


after the raven has had its say

by unusannus



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Kidnapping, Things Get Heavy, ellie is about to go thru some Shit, joel is that supportive dad we all want, kinda an au kinda not, she loves dina so much yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25675336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unusannus/pseuds/unusannus
Summary: Dina gets kidnapped and Ellie takes it upon herself to get her back.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 179





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> introducing: my longest fic ever!!! i have no idea how i did it but i did
> 
> i'm posting chapter 1 for now, but i’m done up to chapter 9 and am currently working on 10 :D (apologies for any long gaps between chapters moving on because they’re being edited and revised)

Ellie stumbles, her knees giving out. Crumpling to the ground, a strong pair of hands grab her. Her mind swirls with different thoughts that all end with the same conclusion. 

She needed to find her. That was not negotiable.

“Ellie! Hey, hey, you’re okay. We’ll figure somethin’ out.” Joel’s gruff voice peeks out from beneath her panic. She settles into him, finding comfort for just a few seconds before she remembers what she had just been told. Her world comes crashing down once more.

“I’m sorry, Ellie. I’m so sorry.” Jesse is here, too. He’s apologizing even though she knows he did everything he could have in that situation. If him being bloody and bruised is anything to go by.

She stands shakily, shrugging off Joel’s help, “I’m leaving tonight.” Her voice is wobbly, holding back tears.

Joel disagrees, “We have no idea how many rattlers there are. We need to plan accordingly if we wanna do this smart. You know that.” He keeps a calm tone and it frustrates Ellie even more.

“By the time we do that she might be dead!” Ellie argues, anger rising in her chest, “I don’t care how many there are. I’m not waiting.” Huffing, she turns, walking to her room to grab her backpack and prepare all that she has. She would need everything 

A hand touches her shoulder, “Give me until morning, okay?” Joel pleads, “There’s gotta be some people we can spare for this.” 

Reluctantly, Ellie nods, “Fine.” She’d rather he be preoccupied with that then try to follow her out when she sneaks out. Dina was out there somewhere, and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t do everything she can do to get her back.

In her room, she shuts the door behind her. She rummages around to gather all she can get. Her comics are strewn all over the floor, but she ignores the mess and focuses on packing up her ammunition and first aid kit. On her bed, she zips her backpack up then focuses on what she has on her nightstand..

She freezes, Dina’s bracelet is placed neatly on it. It had been gifted to Ellie when they had their 1 year anniversary. She rubs at her eyes, but her attempts at drying them are futile as she begins to sob. 

Dina was gone. She could be dead and it let’s Ellie remember how cruel this world could be when you’re not paying attention. Just yesterday they had promised to each other to spend the whole day together once their separate patrols were done. Would they ever get that opportunity again? She doesn’t even want to entertain the thought.

**_____**

Nighttime approaches quickly. The stars shine through her window. Ellie stands, walking to the door and leaning on the handle so as to not fall in her exhausted state. She shrugs on her backpack and double-checks that she brings her extra bullets that were issued to her for emergencies only. This  _ definitely _ counted as one.

Under the cover of night, she steps out. With a shuddering breath she trudges onward to the south entrance. She knew a secret way out in that area, one that only her and Dina discovered years ago. It had been only for them to know about, so they could seek solace out of the walls of Jackson whenever they wanted to.

The spot is blocked off with a large cinder block that Ellie had placed there the last time she went through it. Removing it, she crawls through the opening, pushing through the barely comfortable tunnel until she’s out of the town. Turning back, she closes it again with a large boulder. Once she makes it look as inconspicuous as possible, she treads on to the woods. 

She shivers at the cold breeze, a complete contrast to her heated room. Jesse had said the rattler picked them off at the Amangani Hotel route. It was one of the closer patrols one could take, but Jesse and Dina assured everybody that they’d manage fine on their own. It scared Ellie to know that they weren’t too far away when it happened.

As she approaches an abandoned gas station of the side of an overgrown road, she steps inside it. Rummaging through drawers and cabinets, she finds some discarded ammo and some more alcohol she stuffs into her backpack. Going deeper inside, she turns a corner into the bathroom.

A runner bursts out from the stall, startling her. It jumps on top of her and she pulls out her knife and sticks it into its throat.

“Fuck.” She grumbles, pushing the body off of her. The hot blood had spurted all over her shirt. Digging into its pockets, she finds nothing. She grabs a few rags from the bathroom counter and heads out of the gas station.

The night sky brings her none of the comfort it did before, knowing that she was alone and vulnerable out of Jackson. Her gun stays tucked into her pocket for the first sign of more trouble. She wanted to get as far away as possible prior to the sun’s first light shining through. By then, Joel would definitely realize she had gone off on her own. She didn’t want him to follow her trail easily, if he even did so.

The woods around her grow denser as she goes in deeper. It might’ve looked beautiful if she wasn’t so paranoid of being caught off guard in the trees. The cicadas buzzing seem to be her only company for now, though.

An hour passes, numbing her feet to the point where she doesn’t know how much longer she could keep going. The route to the hotel was usually much less time on horseback, and she would’ve loved to have brought one if that didn’t mean alerting the stable workers.

A stump meets her legs and she tumbles forward. She groans and is met with dirt and leaves planted into her mouth. She spits them out and flips over, laying on her back.  _ Maybe this is a sign to take a break,  _ she thinks, exhaustion painting her features.

Standing, she brushes off the debris and limps into a clearing, ankle strained by the fall. She slumps against a tree. Her mind relaxes for the first time since she heard the news. Her breathing evens out as she dozes off, gazing at the stars and all their shapes.

**_____**

**_“Where are you taking me?”_ **

**_“Relax, it isn’t too far from here.”_ **

**_Ellie scoffs as Dina pulls her arm harder in the direction they’ve been going at far too long for her liking. “We’re gonna get yelled at so hard when we get back.” She whines._ **

**_Din rolls her eyes, “Don’t be a baby.” She lets go of her arm, “Okay, it should be behind these trees.” She nods her head at said trees._ **

**_“What’d you say this was? A Crustacean? “ Ellie guesses, moving forward and separating the foliage with her hands._ **

**_Dina flicks her forehead, “No, dummy. A constellation!”_ **

**_“Ow!” Ellie yelps, rubbing her forehead. She trudges on, sparing a glare back at Dina for the hit._ **

**_As she steps out of the trees, she sees now that they’re on a cliff. Jackson’s lights are barely visible from this distance and it makes her uneasy until Dina speaks up from beside her._ **

**_“A constellation is basically this cluster of stars that make a certain figure or shape. That one,” She points up to the night sky, “Is called the Big Dipper.”_ **

**_Ellie follows her finger, “I don’t see it.” She admits, dumbfounded._ **

**_Dina steps behind her, taking hold of Ellie’s arm in a gentle manner. Her face is close to her cheek as she whispers, using Ellie’s finger to point this time, “It’s right there, with the big tail on one end. Can’t miss it.” Ellie tries not to shiver at their closeness. This time she does notice the shape._ **

**_“Oh.” She simply says, stepping away and shaking off her earlier feelings, “How’d you even learn about this stuff?”_ **

**_“There was a book about it in the library that one time I had detention.”_ **

**_Ellie chuckles, memories flooding back, “Was that when you punched Jake so hard he had a broken nose?”_ **

**_“He was being a dick to Amber! I was just doing my civic duty to society.” She furrows her brows, “Can’t believe they punished me instead of him.”_ **

**_Ellie feels bad, so she changes the subject, “What else can you tell me about the Big Dipper?” The beaming smile returns to Dina’s face._ **

**_“Okay, so it’s actually a part of the much bigger constellation called Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear. In Greek mythology, Zeus fell in love with the maiden Callisto, and he got her pregnant.”_ **

**_“Scandalous.” Ellie quips, gasping dramatically. Dina shoves her playfully for interrupting. Ellie motions for her to go on._ **

**_“After the kid’s birth, Hera, his wife, turned Callisto into a bear and she lived like that for years before she met her son out in the woods who was about to strike her with his spear, but Zeus stopped him and sent them both up into the heavens, where they live on in constellations. The Big Dipper is the bear’s tail.” She finishes, admiring the night sky and Ellie takes the moment to study the way the moonlight gleams so subtly onto Dina’s face, as if it’s holding her with the utmost care in the way that Ellie would love to reciprocate._ **

**_“That’s quite the story.”_ **

**_Dina grins, looking away from the stars to Ellie, “I know! Can you believe that there were people who dedicated their careers to the stars?”_ **

**_Ellie sighs, “Man, what’d I‘d give to go up there and just look down at the earth.”_ **

**_Dina brushes her hand against Ellie’s, “One day, Ellie. One day.” She promises her._ **

**_Taking the leap and lacing their fingers together, Ellie simply nods._ **

**_____**

The heat of the sun beating down on her skin wakes Ellie up a few hours later. She flinches at something brushing against her noses. Opening her eyes, she discovers that it’s a racoon.

“What the hell?” She exclaims at the furry creature, it runs off at her yell. She rubs at her nose, the tickling sensation remaining for a few seconds. She reaches to her side, where her backpack had been left. It seems to have been searched through, probably from the fucking racoon. It looks like all it really wanted was some food, which it gladly took because only two granola bars and an apple are left over. 

Huffing, she slings it back over her shoulder. Hunting wasn’t something she was new at, but she was really hoping her food would’ve lasted longer than it did. She winces at her movements. Great, a sunburn, too?

Reaching a creek, she bends down to wash her face. The grime drips down her chin and she watches the droplets reach the body of water once again. Her reflection stays warped and blurry. The birds sing as a warning of the morning to come.

Ellie steps across the stream, ignoring the discomfort of walking in wet shoes. Her hand digs into her pocket, pulling out a tourist map of the state of Wyoming . After making an educated enough guess of where she is, she located the hotel on the map and made her way to it. At least it was closer than it had been yesterday.

Her shoes squelch with each step and she hopes there’s no person around to hear them. Despite the reason why she was out here, she couldn’t help but feel a deep appreciation for the way nature had reclaimed the world. There were abandoned cars filled with vines and cracked streets brimming with ant hills inside them. 

The snap of a branch draws her attention from behind her. She whips out her pistol, turning her head back.

It’s a deer. She lets out a breath of relief, then remembers that she’d be needing food sooner or later, so she tries to steady her shot on it. 

At once, the deer is running away and Ellie instinctually chases it. It leads her off the path she was originally heading. Her feet pound against the leaves, the dull ache of her fall from last night coming back to her ankle. A few seconds later, she realizes that it’s too fast for her to catch up. She stops, placing a hand on a tree to catch her breath. Wiping sweat from her face, she looks up. 

A body is hanging from the tree she’s resting on. She jumps back a little at seeing it. It’s a man. His skin is pale and just about ready to fall off the bone. With his eyes closed, it looks like he’s just serenely sleeping. Ellie spots a piece of yellowing paper sticking out from his beige coat pocket. She plucks it off him and reads it.

_ I did it. I shot her. My baby. She was just a fucking kid and those rattler shitheads almost worked her and me to death. I had to get away and so we did. Didn’t make it two fucking feet before getting bit. The real kicker is only she did. She told me to do it, I swear to God. I can’t stay here if she’s gone. It’s not fair. I’ve already used my last bullet on her. _

Ellie sighs, whoever he was. He didn’t deserve to go like that. Reading about what type of people the rattlers could be only fueled her anger even more. They probably had Dina slaving away on whatever they wanted by now. Placing the note back in his pocket, her gaze settles on a small grave next to him. It’s a shallow hole filled with rocks, twigs, and leaves. She must’ve been under all that. It couldn’t have been more than five feet in height.

There’s a dandelion sitting next to Ellie’s feet. She twists it away from the earth. 

Placing it neatly on top of the grave, she murmurs “I hope you’re doing better.” to nobody in particular.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the only thing that’s similar to part 2 is really the flashbacks because they’re quite neat™️ (plus the rattlers too, just with my own spin on them)
> 
> also i’m not sure what times are the best to post each chapter so everyone can get to it asap but i’ll just wing it


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the journey continues!

The deer had steered her off the track she had laid out for herself beforehand, so she had to re-gather her bearings to get back to it. As midday approached, her stomach became more and more persistent in letting her know she needed to eat. Eventually, she breaks a granola bar in half and chews on it slowly so as to savor it.

The map had been of little help it turns out, when all the roads and signs it counted on were taken over by the world slowly becoming alive with green again. She can recall Joel telling her that maps weren’t even that popular before the outbreak, there was this thing called a GPS that  _ told  _ you where to go. It still blew her mind to even think about. How fucking cool was that?

She folds the map up and pockets it once more. The hotel was about a mile away now. She picked up her pace to get there before nightfall came or else it’d be another grueling trip. There isn’t much she can do as she walks, but stay occupied with her thoughts. Of Dina, of Joel, of Jackson. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t escape it when she was alone and felt like she would lose her mind if she didn’t find a distraction quick. 

She realizes her hands are shaking again, clenching them, she tries not to think about how that only happened when she was on the verge of panic. She’d be of no use to Dina if anxiety kept her from moving. She was counting on Ellie to save her.

The upside to being such a canopied forest meant she was covered from the sun’s rays, and for that, her pale skin was grateful. The hanging man had made her uneasy, leaving her to recoil at every out of place croak or chirp. Her knife stayed gripped in her left hand with a newfound vigor. Her right constantly ghosted over her pistol.

Before Ellie knew it, the hotel was finally in her field of view, peeking tall over the multitude of trees. Reaching the end of the forest, she sees a tall fence stretching for miles on either side of her. She ducks down, prying open the bottom of the porous metal. It gives little pushback, bending at her will.

She crawls through and surveys the new area. It looked like the part of the city that used to be a QZ. She hikes along the edge of the broken roads, prepared for any danger. The Amangani Hotel hangs overhead, foreboding in a way that beckons her to it. Jesse had explained that it happened when they were walking out, having completed their logs on the top floor. 

She was already on her way back and those assholes had taken her.

Shaking her head, Ellie changes her train of thought to something less hurtful. She’s becoming much more thankful for her decision to wear a pair of boots instead of her regular canvas sneakers. Every pebble and rock would be penetrating her soles at a faster rate if she hadn’t. 

It’s creepy how silent the city is. She can only imagine it at its peak, with businesses and parks bustling. Kids and adults all alike in their sense of community. The world was much simpler when enduring and surviving wasn’t the only objective. It was only in her most lonesome moments that Ellie allowed herself to live in that type of world. One where Joel was really her dad, and maybe Sarah was there too. She would have graduated high school by now, with Jesse and Dina, ready to go off for college. Her only concern being to pass her midterms and finals. 

When she opens her eyes, it registers that they were even shut in the first place, letting herself get lost in the daydream. Then, the reality of everything floods her mind. The blood on her hands that lingered no matter how hard she scrubbed and the dirt under her fingernails that persisted, letting her know she was no saint. She was not a good person. She was just surviving and that would never change.

The hotel stands in front of her, it’s rustic look inviting her in. She draws out her gun, applying her homemade suppressor over the muzzle just in case. It should have been cleared out by Jesse and Dina, but Ellie was too paranoid at this point to not be safe. She pushes the front door slightly, it creaks open, but no infected charge out at her. She goes inside with careful steps. The wood groans out with each foot placed forward. It’s dimly lit from torches left here for who knows how long.

There’s large splashes of blood over the floor, and it looks fresh. Ellie diverts her eyes from it, not wanting to think too heavily about the implications of that. Her ears perk up at a wheezing emitting from the upper floor. The stairs appear to be the only way up.

They are as quiet as the door and floor are, which is not at all. She winces with the first stride upwards. The gun trembles with her hand. She grits her teeth and steadies herself forcefully. Following the sound leads her to the first room on the right of a long winding hallway. 

She approaches the sound with caution as she turns the corner. There’s a body lying next to an open window. It wheezes. She treads carefully next to them. Their face turns to her.

It’s a young man with bloodshot eyes. He cradles his side with care as she stares him down, not moving her gun from his face, “Who are you?” He hoarsely asks.

“Doesn’t matter.” She deflects, “The hell happened to you?”

He laughs, and it’s more of a hacking cough by the time he finishes, “Got shot by some fucking girl. My team left me behind.” He adds quietly, “Fucking traitors.”

Ellie raises her eyebrows. Was that girl Dina? Was his team the Rattlers who took her? 

She straightens up, cocking her gun, “Who’s your team?” 

He lifts his head, trying to sit and now Ellie can see his hand coated in crimson as it deserts his side. There’s bandages, but they’ve done nothing to stop it from gushing out. They really had left him to bleed out all night. 

He seems to contemplate answering, before scoffing and admitting, “The Rattlers. We were, or I  _ was,  _ with them.” A smug look overtakes him, like a weight had been lifted off of him by telling her the truth. Maybe the expression on her face was enough to tell him that she was on a quest to kill them and didn’t mind anymore.

Ellie stops pointing her gun at him, knowing he had no strength to hurt her, “Where were they heading?”

“We were just here for the girl. She’d been a fiesty one, but Nick knocked her out with his gun and the other guy she was with escaped by the skin of his teeth.” He stares at the rotting ceiling wistfully, “We were heading back to home base. It’s near the big clock tower over on sixth street.”

“You don’t know the name of your home base?” Ellie questions, growing suspicious.

“I’ve never actually been there, just heard of it, okay? We’ve got a lot of other bases. If you don’t believe me, that’s fine.” He holds up his hands as if to say he can’t offer much else. Ellie chooses to trust the dying man’s words. 

Shoving her gun back into her pocket, she pivots to leave.

“Hey, wait!”

Ellie whirls back, “What?” She asks, exasperated.

“You can’t just leave me like this!” He argues.

She crosses her arms, “Actually, I think I can.”

His eyes turn watery, “W-wait, just shoot me. Please. I don’t wanna be found by any infected or hunter or whatever.”

Ellie’s hard eyes soften in return, “You sure?” Killing was nothing difficult, she was just never doing it to somebody who  _ wanted  _ to be killed.

He nods slowly, “And burn my body too. I don’t want anyone to find me like that.”

Ellie doesn’t question why he wants that, not seeing the point. She takes her gun out once more. She guesses the least she could do for the guy is take him out of his misery, who knows how long it’ll take for him to bleed out to death. 

“Any last words?” She inquires, feeling awkward asking, but wanting to give him the chance.

He bites his bottom lip, “I-I really loved my mom. That’s all.” He chokes out, a single tear runs down his face, soaking into the collar of his shirt. He closes his eyes, muttering something Ellie can’t hear. He opens them again, determination on his face.

“Do it.”

She drops a single bullet into his skull. He’s out like a light. Letting out a shaky breath, she bends down to pick him up. He’s not as heavy as she thought he would be. Lugging him outside, she sets him down onto the pavement. His eyes are bulging, wide open. She gently places her fingers over them to close them. 

Flicking her lighter open, she burns one end of a wooden stick she found and rubs it over his jacket. It catches fire and soon enough his whole body is engulfed in flames.

_ I never even got his name,  _ she realizes as she drops the wood onto his darkened chest.

It joins the orange blast, reducing itself to ashes


	3. Chapter 3

The map tells Ellie that she needs to keep moving north to get to the clocktower. It’s further than she was expecting, but the information was one step closer to gettng Dina back. The sun was beginning its journey downwards and the familiar chill of darkness made its way to her. She chided herself internally for taking so long to just get to the hotel. 

She needed to be faster, much faster.

Weaving in and out of abandoned buildings, she gathers up more and more supplies. There’s one store in particular that catches her eye, a hunting shop. The sign that hangs precariously off its roof says _Gus & Son’s Outfitters. _

Peeking in through broken windows, Ellie can hear infected, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She jumps in quietly over the window, staying low. She spots a runner sporadically grunting and groaning in the furthest corner to the left and another positioned in the center, pacing back and forth. She takes that one out first.

The one in the corner doesn’t see her coming as she slices its neck. She lets it drop and starts to walk away when it latches a hand on her ankle, baring its gnarly teeth to take a chunk out of her. At first, she tries shaking it off, but it doesn’t budge. She stomps on its head. The dark blood and brain matter stick to the bottom of her boot, so she scrapes her foot a few times against the tiled floor. 

An odd shape pokes out from its waistband and she lifts its shirt to see a hunter's pistol. Grabbing it she grins at it already having 10 bullets loaded into it, “Fuck yeah, thanks dude.” She quietly celebrates. The small store is empty now. 

Behind the counter, she finds some more bullets for her shotgun and not much else. Satisfied, she exits the same way she came in, her new gun placed safely away in her backpack. 

There isn’t much else to explore in the QZ , she jumps the fence leading her out. The company of the wilderness brings back a sense of comfort. Even though it was dark out now, she didn’t want to stop for fear of being too out in the open. The more woods there are, the greater chance hunters wouldn’t see her. Her moves grow sluggish with each second she doesn’t rest. 

Yawning, she finally relents to one of her body’s needs : food. She eats the rest of the granola bar from before and her apple, sipping from her canteen of river water. It’s not enough to satiate herself completely, but it’s enough to convince her stomach to stop bothering for a bit.

Up ahead, lights burn through her vision. They look like lanterns and stay unmoving. Getting closer, Ellie can see the outline of a small wooden cabin that houses the light source. The naive and fatigued part of her wants to believe that it's abandoned, but she knew better. As much as she would love to rest in it, it had the lights on for a reason. She tries to forget about it.

A low rumbling vibrates the ground around her. Ahead , two yellow eyes stay locked on her. She freezes, fear overtaking her. Whatever it is, it doesn’t back down as it takes a lumbering step over to her. She brings her gun up, ready to shoot if it got any closer. 

“Fuck off.” She hisses at it, finger over the trigger. It doesn’t listen as it lunges forward. Now, she can clearly tell it’s a bear, its hazel coat is matted with blood and she knows that if she doesn’t book it now it’ll be her blood next. Her feet are off before she can even register where she’s going.

“Shit, shit, shit.” She repeats to herself, sprinting to the nearest safe point. The cabin. 

The snarling lips of the animal feel like they’re only inches from her neck. It’s thud of each paw working their way to her is the only thing keeping her from collapsing. She reaches for the doorknob of the small wooden building, it was surprisingly unlocked. She slams it shut, the fragile wood could only hold it back for a few seconds at most. She searches the small structure in a crazed manner, knowing she didn’t have enough supplies to take down a whole fucking bear without losing a limb or two. She picks up an axe laying on the floor, in case shit _really_ hits the fan.

Her eyes fall onto a large metal freezer across the single room home. That could definitely block the door. The bear pounds against the door once more, letting her know it was almost through. Dashing to it, she doesn’t make it another foot as the floor falls apart under her weight. 

She lands on her side. An aching sears through it as she coughs out the dust filling her lungs. The bear finally busts through the door above her. Ellie holds her breath. It sniffs and a paw waves over the hole she made. It seems to give up out of sheer laziness, not wanting to work any harder for a meal. It roars again and leaves from where it came from. 

She lets herself breathe again, grimacing at the small splinters littering her palms. Pain sets in as the adrenaline leaves her. She sits up, steadying herself. It looks like she landed in some makeshift basement. Suddenly, the ground is trembling once more and she clutches the axe out of instinct. 

A bloater lets its presence be known and she finally becomes aware of the spores covering the walls down here. A thunderous cry leaves its disfigured lips before it picks her up by the neck. 

The air leaves her quickly, but she hacks away at it with the axe, trying to cut off its head. It drops her as she does so, grunting in pain. She pulls out her shotgun, unloading a few slugs into its face. The basement is small, so she only has so much time before it’ll grab her again. She quickly takes her one molotov out, lights it up, and heaves it over her shoulder.

“Die already!” She yells, blasting it with her shotgun again. It throws a sac of whatever foul smelling things it has growing on its body, then slumps over dead. She tries to waft it away from her face, but it’s to no avail as the scent seeps into her pores. If she wasn’t immune she’d be having a much more harrowing experience right now. 

Ellie eyes the walls closely, waiting for anything to attack her and when nothing does, she begins to search around, carefully avoiding the body of the bloater. There’s a small workbench that she examines. It doesn’t have anything other than some loose screws and nails on it. There is a tape recorder, though. Without much thought, she presses play.

A woman inhales and her voice crackles over the small device.

_Uh, this is Liz. Liz Deckard. That sickness or whatever the fuck they’re calling it now has spread all the way over here in Wyoming. Derek begged me to come with him, but I don’t want to. This is my home. I spent my childhood in these woods. He left, didn’t even make me feel bad for staying, just gave me that stupid look. It’s been weeks now, and another girl found me out here, said she was scared so I let her stay with me._

She lets out a watery laugh.

_What a fucking mistake that was. She was sick and only admitted to it after she bit me like some animal. I ran her out and told her to never come back. Now, I’m feeling weird, seeing stuff that’s not there and wanting to eat everything I come across. I caught a rabbit yesterday and ate it raw, just teared into it like it was nothing. I’m scared. I’m so fucking scared._

It ends there. Ellie purses her lips, the start of the infection always seemed like the worst time to be alive. As horrible as Boston had been, at least she knew what was happening and lived in a relatively structured place. This woman didn’t have that luxury. She sets the recorder down, not wanting to look around any longer.

She finds solace in an empty cot. It smells of mud, but beggars can’t be choosers. The pillow resembles a piece of cardboard and she knows she’ll wake up with a sore neck. She shakes the paper thin blanket out and a few spiders fly out of it accompanied with years of dust. Creeping under it, she wills herself to sleep, hoping no nightmares would come her way.

**_____**

**_“God, those things smell so horrible.”_ **

**_“What? The bloaters?” Ellie asks Dina, standing over the dead body of one. She fiddles with the strap of her mask, not finding wearing one enjoyable at all._ **

**_Dina scowls, “Yeah, whatever they’re called. They fucking suck.” She prods it with her foot, “You sure it’s dead?”_ **

**_Ellie tilts her head, admiring her handiwork, “Yup. The big ones always hate fire.”_ **

**_“Okay, can we get out of here now, please? I’m seriously about to throw up.”_ **

**_“Yeah, the others are probably worried.”_ **

**_They step out of the destroyed shopping mall and pull off their masks. Ellie can’t help but take out her journal to sketch the exterior of the ruins. It was so enticing with all its brokenness._ **

**_“Whatcha writing there?” Dina says, placing a hand on her shoulder._ **

**_Ellie flinches slightly at the sudden touch, “Just drawing the mall.” She squints, wanting to get the shadowing just right._ **

**_Dina laughs and it sends a tingle down Ellie’s entire body, “So much for the others being worried.”_ **

**_Ellie waves her off, “They can wait a few minutes. I won’t be long.” She changes the angle of her pencil to draw the dangling vines hanging over the shingles._ **

**_Dina says nothing as Ellie continues, they sit in the silence together, letting the birds and bugs speak for them._ **

**_“Uh, Ellie.”_ **

**_Ellie hums back in response._ **

**_“I’m pretty sure I just saw a duck waddle by us.”_ **

**_Quirking an eyebrow, Ellie stays focused on her paper, “ S’probably nothing.” She mumbles, sticking her tongue out in concentration._ **

**_Dina shakes her head, “Nope. I saw what I saw.” She pauses, then excitedly continues, “Oh my god, look! It’s a whole family of them!”_ **

**_Ellie ultimately glances up, eyes widening at the scene playing out in front of her, “Woah, you weren’t kidding.”_ **

**_The baby ducks, about seven in total, follow their mom in a straight line. The mom lets out some quacks every few seconds and the babies can only chirp back. She glances over at Dina, who is staring with such fascination it warms Ellie’s heart._ **

**_Dina meets her gaze, “That is the cutest thing I’ve seen today.”_ **

**_Ellie smiles, “I can think of cuter things.” Her eyes travel to Dina’s lips._ **

**_Bashfully looking away, Dina tells her to, “Shut up.”_ **

**_“Hey! Where’ve you two been? You can’t just go off on your own like that! This is group patrol for a reason.”_ **

**_Both girls jump at the intrusion. Ellie cooly looks back, “Chill, Jesse. We just took out a bloater.”_ **

**_He looks irked, probably because Dina had chosen to hang out with her instead of him. He crosses his arms, “ Don’t do that again.”_ **

**_Ellie nods, standing and extending an arm out for Dina who happily takes it, “You got it, boss.” She jokes, saluting him in an exaggerated manner. It’s stupid, but it makes Dina laugh and that’s more than enough for Ellie._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the flashbacks are the cutest things to write


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is a more action packed chapter! enjoy

Morning comes faster than Ellie would’ve liked, having only gotten a few hours of sleep. She rubs tiredly at her eyes, the smell of the bloater having faded away. She slings her backpack on and examines the Ellie sized hole in the ceiling. 

She looks around the enclosed space for anything that could be of any use. Finally, she spots a flimsy wooden ladder leading up through a hatch. Shoving the bloody axe into her bag’s side pocket, she climbs up. The hatch needs some persuading after having no usage in years, but eventually it opens. Her side aches as she pushes against it. The fall down had left her with a nasty purple bruise. It’s a struggle to not focus on it too much. The splinters she had been able to pull out had also left bloody pricks all over her hand. 

All in all, she was glad nothing too life threatening had happened.

Without the bear on her tail, she can actually take the time to search the small cabin. On the bedside table there’s a framed picture of a young man and woman at the beach. He holds her up bridal style and they’re looking at each other like they’re the only people who exist in the world. Flipping it over, Ellie reads a sticky note stuck to the back.

_ Finally got it as a physical! This was on one of our first dates. I figured you’d like it. You’ve always been the sappy one.  _

It ends with a smiley face scrawled in messily at the end. Ellie puts it back down. She stares a bit too long at their faces, for some reason trying to commit them to memory. The love that was held in the photo was so palpable to her that she didn’t want to forget it. It felt good to know that at some point in time, people could love this deeply. It was exactly what she felt for Dina, and that terrified her to her very core.

She hopes to locate any kind of food, but is sorely disappointed to find none. She walks out of the house, not before turning off the lanterns. Who knows how long they’ve been turned on, whether by other squatters or Liz herself, Ellie wasn’t sure. Maybe turning them off would finally bring some peace to the place.

Her stomach protests at having no breakfast, so she begrudgingly eats her very last granola bar.

She walks on. The events of last night branded into her brain. She was not looking forward to dealing with that bear again. She couldn’t die out here, no, she wouldn’t allow it. That would only lead to Dina dying too.

Coming across an empty car, she rummages through it and discovers a notebook open to its first page, stating different places to visit in Wyoming. The words  _ Redworth Clock Tower  _ catch her eyes, next to it was written  _ 25 miles away.  _ Ellie feels herself deflate a little, that was still quite far away. With nothing else of interest in the car, she backs out of it.

To cheer herself up, she takes out her bow to track and hunt some game. She would need it sooner rather than later anyways. 

As if on cue, a squirrel scurries past her and climbs one of the various large oaks surrounding her. She extends the bow, looking up and taking a deep breath in. Through the viewfinder, she settles on aiming for the head, a quick and clean kill.

_ Bang! _

Ellie startles, letting the arrow fly way off her intended direction and over the tree. The squirrel gets scared and jumps down, running off. She curses, but gets down into a prone position because that was definitely a gunshot. She listens to try and catch anything important.

A giddy voice fills her ears, “Did you see that? I totally got that bird!” Sounded like a young man.

An older man clears his throat, obviously annoyed, “Yup, and probably alerted anyone with fucking ears for miles around.”

A third person, a young woman, “We’re here to find Ricky. Stop playing around. The guy already owes us a big sum, we can’t let him get away with it,”

_ They’re hunters,  _ Ellie concludes as she watches them beneath the tall grass, a few meters away. She crawls back slowly, wanting to get away as soon as possible. If she could avoid a fight, that would be ideal, but she knows deep down that things are far from ideal right now. The older man starts walking to where she is, her breath hitches.

He keeps his eyes forward, not looking down at her exact spot. She thinks she’s in the clear until a rattling noise starts up from behind her. The man glances down just as she sees to the source. It’s a rattlesnake, but he sees her first.

“We got a live one!” He shouts at the others and Ellie takes the three second window to run to the cover of a tree. A few bullets come her way, but she gets out of the way just in time.

“It’s a girl. Search around, if Ricky isn’t here we might as well grab her.” The old man says.

Ellie sees no point in stealthing and pops out, aiming her new pistol at his head. He goes down with a stifled gasp. The young woman looks over in time to see it happen. “Fuck, she got him!” She yells at the other man. She points her shotgun to Ellie’s position behind the tree, “I see you. Give it up and we might let you live.”

“Fuck off.” Ellie breathes out, her finger staying put on the trigger. She waits a second before peeking out once more, the woman expects that and shoots once. Ellie ducks, narrowly dodging getting her head blown off. As the woman adjusts for another shot, Ellie shoots her leg. She stumbles to the ground with a pained cry, her gun dropping from her hand. 

Running up to her, Ellie slices her neck. She falls face first into the dirt, dead. The young man comes running too, blindly shooting at Ellie. A bullet grazes her shoulder, but she ignores the pain, focusing on him instead. He reloads and she takes the opportunity to knock the gun out of his hand. He’s just as fast to shove her down with a grunt.

She drops her gun at the force. He straddles her and punches her cheek. She brings her arms up in front of her face to shield herself, but his incessant hitting doesn’t stop. He pushes past the small barrier, he keeps going and going and she feels like she’s going to pass out. Her eyes begin to water. She can barely see anymore.

He’s taller and heavier, giving him the advantage. She grasps blindly at her sides, feeling around for anything that might help. Her breathing becomes more ragged with each second that passes. Her right hand falls onto the axe resting in her backpack’s side pocket. She clenches her teeth, with a final push she hits him on the side of his head. She repeats it again and again, until he’s no longer fighting back, chunks of his body scattered all around. 

He twitches a few times and then he’s still. 

Ellie drops the axe, one end dripping in bright red. She goes to wipe at her mouth, spitting out blood. Tears are still involuntarily pooling in her eyes, so she guesses her nose might be broken or close to it. Her shoulder throbs with the graze of the bullet, the stain turning maroon through her shirt. 

With no idea who might’ve heard that, she doesn’t stop to rest and grabs her gun, running away.

**_____**

There’s a cave, a small one, but a cave nonetheless. It’s off the beaten path of the woods. Ellie has no idea what person above loved her enough to give her an unoccupied cave that could serve as her shelter for a moment, but she is happy for it. Inside it, there are a few bones and bugs. The bones don’t look human, though. It’s still not a pretty site and Ellie shoves them out of her peripheral. She slumps against one of the rough walls

Removing her flannel, she frowns at how much the action hurts her bloodied shoulder. She reaches into her backpack, taking out some rags and gauze to clean and wrap the wound. She winces quietly at the alcohol she dabs over it. There seems to be no remains of the bullet stuck in her, so she bandages it up as best she can with only one hand.

Moving on, she wipes at her face, her flesh wounds already had some drying blood over them. She really wishes she had an ice pack or something to help soothe the pangs of hurt coming from her nose, but she makes do with what she does have. Steadily pulling her shirt up reveals the bruise from her fall the other night was already starting to darken into a deep blue. She jerks it back down.

Skittering can be heard from the mouth of the cave, a white rabbit pops its head through it and hops toward Ellie. Recalling her botched attempt at hunting from before, she realizes this could very well be her lunch for the day. Standing, she quietly slips out a gun from her pocket. A gunshot would be messier, but she didn’t want to make too much noise rustling around in her backpack for the bow.

She lines up a shot, and then the rabbit looks up. It tilts its head in curiosity at Ellie. The beady eyes burn straight through her soul, never faltering. It just waits, like it’s used to the big dumb humans hesitating to kill it, as if it’s some fucking god. It doesn’t even blink. Ellie feels like she’s being choked the more she stares, she finally drops her gun, it rattles loudly, but the rabbit doesn’t run off at the sound. Her lips quiver.

“Go.” She roughly demands, hardly able to keep herself from crying. It keeps fucking staring at her. Something in her snaps.

Ellie screams,”Get out!” waving her arms wildly as she steps closer to it. At this, it finally hops away. She rubs furiously at the wetness coating her face, and only more comes out. Sliding back down, she sobs into her hands. The saltiness of her tears sting the cuts on her face.

Why couldn’t she do it? What was wrong with her? 

She would surely starve now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don’t know what’s up with me and symbolism it just kind of happens ??? 
> 
>   
> from now on is when things get really chaotic...prepare yourselves


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m nervous about this one but i hope you all like it!
> 
> also two back to back updates??? who am i

Stepping out of the cave, Ellie takes in a breath of fresh air. She’s pretty sure her head is throbbing, although at this point she’s become numb to the feeling. The afternoon was nearing once more, and still so little progress had been made. She limps slightly as she treads on, her body still broken from her earlier beating. It’s been so long since she’s truly been in such a life or death situation and she can confirm that none of what that entails was missed. 

She follows the sound of rushing water to a river. After making sure the water was clear enough, she scoops some up and splashes her face. Brown and red droplets splash back into the water, contaminating it. She’s sure there’s a metaphor hidden beneath that whole process of letting herself dirty what was already clean. 

She refills her canteen after taking a hearty gulp, spilling some over her boots to make them less grimy. Satisfied, she puts it back into her pack. 

The map tells her that the clock tower is 10 miles ahead of the park she’s quite certain was the forest she ended up in. It had overgrown, but a rusty swing set and seesaw poking out from the vegetation confirms her suspicions. 

In only a couple of days, Ellie had already worn herself out almost completely. Her stomach ached due to its hollowness, painfully reminding her of her stupidity with the rabbit every few minutes. 

Above the trees, she spots smoke rising into the atmosphere. It’s disconcerting before Ellie remembers that that could lead her to food if someone was cooking something. If she was stealthy enough then it’d be a piece of cake to have a real meal in front of her soon. She pushes down the thoughts that this was a reckless idea and heads to the wisps of gray.

**_____**

There’s nobody at the small encampment when she arrives, only a tent and a stove pot hanging over the fire. It cooks some kind of stew and Ellie greedily grabs it and the large metal spoon next to the extra wood. She’s only able to take one gracious bite when eerie whistles sound off from all over the perimeter of the camp. 

Goosebumps cover her and the hairs on her arms rise up on high alert. 

An arrow sticks into her shoulder, the ungrazed one. She hisses at the pain, immediately bringing a hand to it and trying to yank it out. The sound of hooves stepping over leaves and twigs gets closer. Once it’s out, Ellie raises her gun up in opposition, even though the effort to keep moving sends a scorching sensation throughout her body.

A hooded figure rides up on a black horse and gets off.

Ellie scrunches her eyebrows in frustration, “Who the f-”

Somebody behind her knocks her out cold.

**_____**

She weaves in and out of consciousness, it’s dark out now. She’s being dragged on by her arms with two people on either side of her. They speak to each other and it goes in one ear and out the other for Ellie. She senses a sticky liquid slowly trickle down from her hairline to her chin. 

Her head lulls to the side and the world fades to black

**_____**

Ellie feels something slap her at least a few times. She comes to at the sensation, grumbling something under her breath Wearily, she opens her eyes to a dark room lit up with torches. A hooded person similar to before stands in front of her. 

“Good. You’re awake.” A deep voice says from under the hood. He pulls it off to reveal a bald man wearing a harsh expression. Straight lined scars are on each of his cheeks. Ellie tries to move, but her hands are handcuffed to a pole over her head. She squirms and he only chuckles at her weak attempts to escape. 

“I can’t believe such a scrawny girl is the chosen one.” 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Ellie questions.

He smirks, “You will find out soon enough. She is not back from her retreat yet.”

It seems that the more he speaks, the more confused Ellie gets. She wriggles her hands again, expecting them to miraculously slip free, but it burns her wrists at how tightly they are binded.

The man walks to her, holding up a cup he seemingly picked up from thin air. He tilts it towards her mouth, “Drink.”

Ellie doesn’t, only scowling even more.

He rolls his eyes, “It’s just water.”

She stands her ground and spits in his face.

Wiping the saliva off, he scoffs and purposely spills the contents of the cup out onto the dirty concrete floor. “Fine. Suit yourself.” He tosses the cup to the side, “I’m getting Henry to deal with your shit now.” With that, he exits from a large metal door off to the right. 

_ Who the fuck is that?  _ Ellie wonders to herself.

Henry, it turns out is a lanky guy, standing over a feet taller than Ellie as he walks to her. He looks scared out of his mind and she has no idea why,  _ she  _ was the prisoner here. As she meets his eyes, he darts his head away, looking off to the side. The other guy was a dick, but at least he didn’t act this weird. It was sort of freaking her out.

“You guys do shifts or somethin’?” Ellie asks, “That why you're here?” Her tongue feels dry and now she kind of wished she had accepted the water. Curse her stubborness.

He gives her a curt nod, shifting as he stares at the floor, Ellie scoffs, “What? Can you not talk?”

Suddenly he’s speaking quickly and quietly, as if scared someone will overhear when there is literally no one else in the room with them, “Are you Ellie Williams?”

It catches her off guard, to hear her full name come out of the mouth of a stranger. A really odd stranger at that. But, now she’s even more tense. How did he know that? The only people who knew were those who lived in Jackson, and he obviously didn’t.

Well, them and…oh. Oh no. This is bad.

“You’re a Firefly.” Ellie says, stating it as a fact because there’s no other explanation. 

“Former Firefly.” Henry corrects her, “I’m a Seraphite now.”

Ellie shrugs, “It’s all the same to me. Where do you recognize me from?” She inquires, not wanting to ask about St.Mary’s outright in case he wasn’t there for when she arrived.

“I used to be a nurse. I helped the head doctor to prepare for when you arrived, just my luck that I got too busy to head into work when you actually did.” He says it with none of the bite she was expecting. He’s actually staring at her with a sense of pity. Maybe he knew what had happened.

As a defense, she responds with a sarcastic, “Good for you.”

His eyes soften, and Ellie can see that he looks no older than 30, even with a shaved head, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“It’s just-- I know that must’ve been tough for you.”

Ellie purses her lips, not wanting to talk about this anymore, especially not with someone who was a part of the group that had bound and trapped her, “What the hell are you guys planning to do to me anyways?” 

Henry heaves a tired sigh, “We won’t hurt you. Don’t worry. We are just waiting for her grace to join us again. She should be back any moment now.”

Ellie wants to groan at all the questions swimming around in her head, “Who is this person you keep talking about?”

“The leader, of course. She is our savior, our  _ everything _ . She wants to meet you before we ship you off.” He gulps, an uneasy expression on him as he tells her that last part.

“Why?”

He steps back, “I-I can’t say anything else. I don’t want to get in trouble.”

Ellie unconsciously tries to move forward and follow him, grimacing at the handcuffs scraping against her already tender skin, “But you could tell me all that other stuff? Come on, there’s gotta be more.” She begs him.

Shaking his head, Henry keeps his mouth shut and rushes out that same door from before.

Ellie deflates in dismay, “So much for taking shifts.” 

**_____**

An hour, or at least Ellie  _ thinks  _ it’s been an hour because time goes on so much more slowly in isolation, passes until another figure enters her room. They say nothing to her as they take her hands off the pole, but leave her in the handcuffs. She huffs as she’s lifted up by the person and shoved forward to keep walking.

They leave the room and are greeted by a long hallway going to the right and left. She’s pushed along to the right side, passing other rooms that also look like cells, many of them occupied from what Ellie can tell as they groan and moan from the inside. She didn’t want to ponder too much about why that might be happening.

Reaching the end of the hallway, they turn to the left and go up some stairs until they come across a door. The Seraphite raps their knuckles on it three times, and it’s opened by another one who gestures for them to come inside. 

Ellie is dragged along into it. The walls have papers taped all over it, all labeled  _ For Her  _ and at least a dozen candles in each corner of the room. There’s a big throne-like chair in the back center, a large mural of a woman with her eyes closed is above it. Her black hair is braided to one side and in bright red next to it it states  _ Feel Her Love _ . 

Ellie realizes that said woman is actually sat down in that large chair, wearing the same expression as her painting, until she hears the Seraphite who escorted her in cough. Her eyes flutter open as if she was just in a deep sleep. Two Seraphites stand on either side of her. A crown of thorns rests on her head.

A warm smile overtakes her and it makes Ellie uneasy at how fake it looks. 

A gravelly voice comes out of her, “Bring her closer.” The Seraphite obliges, pushing Ellie forward to be brought face to face with her. The woman takes in a deep breath and exhales, extending her right palm out and in a second a jagged dagger is placed on it. Her weaponless hand reaches out to grip Ellie’s chin, calloused fingers rasping gently against her skin.

The woman places the dagger dangerously close to Ellie’s neck and she can’t help but whimper at whatever the fuck was happening right now. She sticks the dagger into her neck, just enough to draw blood and wipes it off with her thumb.

She licks it off, never breaking her stare, “Mmm, the chosen one.” She wets her lips, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, as if i do not already know: oh my god what’s gonna happen next 
> 
> this is really just my take on if the seraphite leader never died and was kinda just batshit crazy


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if my chapters had titles this one would be: the one where ellie says fuck a lot and is extremely confused the entire time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: a torture scene, it’s not too detailed or long but it’s definitely there

Ellie stills, waiting with a bated breath for whatever else the woman could do. When nothing happens, she swallows roughly, working up the courage to speak, feeling paralyzed.

“Who the fuck are you?”

The woman grins, chuckling sinisterly, “Is that any way to talk to a lady?” She extends the hand with the dagger out, one of the Seraphites takes it back, “They did tell me you had an attitude.” She doesn’t falter from that hungry stare, as if Ellie is a meal she would devour eagerly.

At this point, Ellie just accepts that confusion is going to be her constant state of mind. She just wanted to see Dina and hug and kiss her again, was that too much to ask for? Why was she being dragged into some cult’s hideout?

Ellie narrows her eyes, “What do you want from me?”

“ _ I  _ don’t want anything. I only wanted to meet you before we sent you to the fireflies.” She leans closer, their noses almost touching, “Although, I guess I could have some fun with you until it’s time for that.” Ellie jumps back, the Seraphite’s grip returns to her shoulder, holding her in place. 

“The fireflies don’t exist anymore.” 

The woman taps her own chin lightly, contemplating something, “Tell me, Ellie. Are you nested with sin?” She didn’t even answer the fucking question. What the fuck is happening right now. How did she know her name?

The woman looks so smug, and it’s starting to piss Ellie off, “Whatever you’re planning, just get it over with. I’m not playing any of your little games.” She keeps her chin up, not wanting to show any signs of weakness. If she died, she wasn’t going to be scared.

An amused look is thrown her way, “Because I think you are.” She continues, “I think there’s darkness in you that you’re struggling to keep in, and as much as I would like to  _ cut  _ it out, I won’t.” She stands suddenly, her silky white dress flowing with her. All the Seraphites kneel at once, when she snaps her fingers, they stand again. 

She steps down, and even though Ellie is taller than her she can’t help but cower slightly at the action. The woman grabs her undershirt roughly, yanking it up and revealing Ellie’s bare stomach. Ellie grunts, trying to get out of her grasp but, of course, the Seraphite behind her doesn’t allow it. 

She wants to shove her away. The handcuffs prevent it.

Somehow the dagger has made its way back to her hand. She grazes it over Ellie’s stomach, “I’ll leave you with a little present.”, it digs into her skin, deeper than the slash on her neck. 

Ellie screams in pain, thrashing away and going to kick the woman. She’s able to get a single kick in before she’s being pinned down on the ground by a much larger man. The woman stands over her body, her lip bleeding. She presses a thumb to it, then smudges it against Ellie’s cheek, making the pattern of a cross. 

She continues cutting into Ellie, the way she angles and curves the dagger makes Ellie think that she’s purposely making a shape or a symbol. 

But, the pain, it’s horrible. Her skin screams like it’s on fire with each gash feeling a little deeper than the rest. She tries to keep her mouth closed, not wanting to give anyone in the room the pleasure of knowing they’re hurting her. Only small cries escape her and her face grows redder with each passing second. 

When it’s over, someone places a small rag over her freshly butchered skin, rubbing away at the excess blood. At this point, the fire in her has numbed and Ellie can’t even look at her own body without feeling disgust. Her unshed tears leave everything out of focus. Before she knows it, she’s back in her cell. Back to the same 4 concrete walls. Back to the pole. Back to rejecting water that’s just fucking water and not poisoned like she wants to believes.

Back to being utterly alone.

**_____**

**_“Dance with me!”_ **

**_Ellie groans in annoyance, a protective hand over her side, “I just got shot and you want me to dance?” It was still healing and it hurt like hell to move around too much. She picks her head up from laying on her bed to see a pouting Dina standing at her side._ **

**_“Yes! It’s a slow song. We can go slow!” She gives her that puppy dog stare that she knows always works on Ellie._ **

**_Ellie face palms, wanting to hide her blush from being so easily coerced, “Okay, okay, fine. Just stop staring at me like that.” She sits up, wincing and Dina extends a hand out to help her off the bed. She takes it._ **

**_“Like what?” Dina asks innocently and Ellie can only glare._ **

**_The song on the record player goes on to the next one, something about an invisible string, but Ellie can’t pay any attention to it when Dina is so close to her. She smells like sunflowers and mint. It puts her at ease, the pain in her side slowly fading as they waltz around in her room. She keeps her hands firmly on Dina’s waist, careful not to wander, but Dina doesn’t care as much to do so, periodically rubbing Ellie’s shoulders in a soothing manner._ **

**_Dina leans in slightly, whispering in her ear, “This is nice, isn’t it?”_ **

**_Gulping, Ellie stutters out, “Y-yeah.” Dina places her head on her shoulder and she tries to not to let her knees buckle over at the feeling._ **

**_Wanting to focus on something else, Ellie asks, “So, what’s up with you and Jesse?”_ **

**_She can feel Dina scoff into her neck, not looking up she tells her, “We’re really done this time.”_ **

**_“You’ve said that the past ten times you guys were broken up.”_ **

**_“Yeah, well, it’s true this time. Whatever we used to have, it’s not there anymore. He gets it. I get it. End of story.”_ **

**_Ellie raises her eyebrows in surprise, ‘Oh, wow. That’s good, I guess.” She retracts her statement nervously, “N-not that it’s good you had to break up. I meant, like i-it’s uh-”_ **

**_Dina cuts her off, “It’s alright. I get it.” She picks her head back up, “I’ve had my eyes on someone else for a while now, anyways.”_ **

**_Ellie ignores the twinge of disappointment that runs through her body, “Who?”_ **

**_“Well, for starters, she’s got the cutest green eyes and a little slit on one of her eyebrows.” Dina’s facing her directly now, a sly smile on her lips. Ellie stares back dumbly._ **

**_She continues, “She also has these freckles dusted all over her cheeks. Her hair’s auburn and her music taste is definitely that of an old man.”_ **

**_Ellie quirks an eyebrow, “You’re infuriating, you know that?” Her heart feels like it’s beating out of her chest. Was she really so oblivious to all the signs that Dina had given her?_ **

**_“Look who’s talking.” Dina remarks, her eyes dart down to Ellie’s lips._ **

**_Ellie’s not sure who starts it, but they’re kissing. Dina tugs her forward gently, so as to not hurt her side and Ellie places a hand on the back of her head to tilt them into a better position. It’s soft and it’s caring. It’s everything Ellie could have ever wanted._ **

**_____**

The back of a horse, Ellie decides, is not the most comfortable place to be on when you’re hogtied. The mangled terrain bounces her up and down, her newly made gashes tensing at every single movement. 

She had been woken up bright and early to take her away somewhere. The woman had said the Fireflies, but that couldn’t be true. They were done.

A Seraphite rides in front of her, with three others riding along on their respective horses for extra security. It seems she had been deemed precious cargo. There isn’t much to do as she lays face down over the horse’s behind, so she counts how many different flowers and animals she passes.

It’s hard to get a good count when they blur by so quickly, but she’s pretty sure she’s seen the same Daisy at least twenty times in a row.

This goes on for a few more minutes until she starts getting dizzy and motion sick from all the tumbling around. Closing her eyes, she hopes to stave off her nausea for as long as possible.

The man on her horse speaks, “We’re almost there.” He clears his throat, “Henry, make sure she doesn’t make any sudden moves.”

_ Huh, so he’s here,  _ Ellie thinks absentmindedly to herself. She was still annoyed at how he had run off the other night. Being a former Firefly wasn’t something she was going to forget so easily.

“Of course.” Is Henry’s reply, sounding just as meek as before, if even more scared now.

“Good. Don’t mess u-” He’s cut off with a strangled scream and then a loud thump as something hits the ground. The horse whinnies, jumping at the noise. Ellie opens her eyes to see the man fallen over with blood pooling out of his head. The other Seraphites startle, readying their bows immediately at whatever did that. 

At least half a dozen Hunters emerge from the woods, blasting bullets at the Seraphites who fight back with their arrows. Ellie recoils back into herself, not wanting to get shot, but the ropes around her feet and hands stay tightly on.

One of the Hunters dashes forward to grab her, a woman, who picks Ellie up swiftly over her shoulder. 

“Hey! Put me down you fucker!” She yells out in vain as she’s ignored. The woman screeches as someone hits her back, she drops Ellie. Immediately, Ellie is again trying to escape her binds until Henry is cutting the rope off of her.

“What are you doing?”

He keeps working to free her as he says, “Saving you.” Once she’s out he grabs her shoulder, “You need to run. Run and don’t look back.”

Ellie stays frozen on the ground. A bullet flying past her brings her back to reality, “What about you?”

He smiles sadly, pulling an arrow out from his back sling, “I’ll be fine.” He forces her up and reaches into his long cloak, pulling out her backpack, “I’m sorry I couldn’t refill it completely. Now, go on. Run!” He shoots once at a Hunter getting close to them.

Ellie quickly puts it on running before pausing to yell back, “Thank you!” Henry waves her away and she sprints off into the trees. A few Hunters are hot on her tail, shouting obscenities at her. She doesn’t dare look back now.

She goes as fast as her tired body can allow her, reaching a cliffside. Open water rushes down below with nowhere else to go. Two Hunters catch up to her soon after, they raise their guns menacingly, “Stand down.” One of them directs her.

Ellie raises her hands up by her sides, running through all her options, each time settling on only one that wouldn’t end with her becoming a prisoner again.

She has to jump.

And so she does. 

She screams the whole way down, praying she doesn’t knock herself out on a rock. The impact stings, but she knows she has to swim. She has to or she’ll die.

Her head feels filled to brim with water as she gasps for air, only to be plunged back down again and again. The water travels in only one direction. When she rises up, she sees an area reminiscent of a shore. She pushes the dense waves with her arms as she heads to it. After being slapped around some more by mother nature’s very own pinball machine, she’s dropped off onto the land. 

She lands face first into the dirt, coughing and wheezing out as much of the water inside her as she can. She shivers at the sudden temperature change from freezing cold to warm sunlight. Her wrists sting with intense soreness. Wriggling around hurts her even more so just she lays there, wondering if the vultures will eat her if she dies here.

A hand brushes hair out of her face. Someone speaks to her. Steady arms carry her.

She passes out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another cliffhanger!! sorry not sorry (actually i’m a little bit sorry)
> 
> there was a small mention of a certain song from folklore hehe, i know it was released in 2020 but let’s just pretend it wasn’t


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> surprise! it’s a dina chapter! 
> 
> let’s see what she’s been up to...

It was no secret to Dina that she’s here for a very important reason. They gave her three meals a day (granted it was the same sandwich and water bottle each time) and she wasn’t bound to any one position. She had a spacious room to herself that stayed locked until someone came to check on her every once in a while. 

But, they never told her why. Why was she here? Why was she so precious to them to keep alive? She had no idea, and it freaked her out. The only injury she had sustained was from her fighting them back in the hotel, a bruise on the side of her head from being knocked out with a gun. 

The Rattlers, as they had called themselves, were certainly no stranger to torturing and overworking people. Dina could see from her single bullet proof window that there were hordes of other prisoners working on the farms and fields, toiling away at the soil and soaked in sweat. She wished she could do something to help them.

She sits on her bed, falling into a routine of doing absolutely nothing each day. She felt like she was slowly going insane from all this waiting around. She missed her friends. She missed her family. Fuck, she  _ really  _ missed Ellie. All her stupid dad jokes and her hugs. She missed being held so much. Being entirely enveloped in Ellie’s taller figure. It was one the few things in this godforsaken world that made her feel truly safe. 

In the few days Dina’s been here, she’s developed a plan, at this point, she was desperate to leave when she wasn’t even sure if there were people who were out searching for her. Maybe Ellie had been, and if she was, Dina didn’t want her to get hurt, so escaping before Ellie got here looked like the safer option for now. Or, at least safer for Ellie. Dina wasn’t as much concerned for herself as she was for her girlfriend.

The next time a Rattler came in here, whether a guy or girl, she’d get them to lower their guard, then knock them out. They usually had the room keys on them which would help her lock the door to keep them inside and unable to alert the other. She would have no more than a few minutes before someone recognized her as a prisoner, so she’d steal the clothes of whoever comes inside. It’s cliche, she knows. 

There’s a stack of playing cards she’d been given on her first day here for entertainment. Which made no fucking sense to her because she had no one to play with. She shuffles them mindlessly, waiting for her breakfast to be delivered. The digital clock on the wall says it’s 7:19am and she wonders if it’s even on the correct time. She had never paid much attention to it

There’s a knock, and someone tells her they’re coming in. It’s a guy, one of the regulars she sees often. She tries to remember his name, Matt or something like that? Mark? Michael?

A sandwich is plopped into her lap, she takes the water bottle out of his hand.

“You need anything else?” He asks, though he doesn’t look intent on fulfilling any of her wishes.

_ Yeah, get me the fuck out of here _ , is what she wants to say. Instead, she settles on a quick shake of her head, chickening out of her plan.  _ Way to stick to it, Dina,  _ she reprimands herself.

His hand is back on the doorknob when she yells out, “Wait!”

“What?”

Her confidence slowly dissolves once again, she scans the room for anything that might help her. He scoffs, turning to leave.

“Uh, can we just- I don’t know- play cards or something?” She spills out.

Confusion sets in, “What? Why?”

Dina does her best to look innocent and naive, “Well, it’s just that I’m here all alone with no company. It’s a little maddening if I’m being honest.” She bites her bottom lip nervously.

His composure softens. Did she have him? 

“Fine. Just one game, alright?”

Dina stops herself from throwing a fist of victory in the air, she still needed him to relax a little more. She smiles, patting the space next to her on the bed. This should be easy. 

“What’s the game?”

She shows him the stack, “It’s called UNO. I’ve never played it, but the instructions came in the little box.” She shakes it for emphasis, “The objective is to lose all your cards.” She hands him seven, the starting number for all players.

He stares intently at them, Dina asks, “So, what’s your name?” Just in case anyone asked her if she got out of here.

“Maverick.” He answers.

_ Oh, damn. I was way off,  _ she realizes. Shaking the thought away she flashes him the sweetest expression she can muster, “That’s a cool name. I’m Dina.” She pauses, “You probably knew that already though, huh?”

He laughs, nodding, “Yeah, it’s kinda hard not to.”

She wants to ask what he means by that, but bites her tongue. She unwraps her sandwich, and throws the plastic wrapping in the bin. He stays seated, humming some song to himself and she knows this is the perfect time to do it.

He’s so assuming when Dina digs the gun out of his pocket and knocks him out with it that she almost feels guilty about it.  _ Almost _ . he was one of those Rattler fucks all the same.

Leaving him in only his undergarments, she slips into the bulletproof vest, letting out a content sigh. There was a real chance of escaping now. She just needed to be smart about it. She shoves his body under her bed, the blood from his head smeared on the floor. 

**_____**

Shutting the door behind her and locking it, she shoves the keys back into her pockets. The glasses he kept tucked into his shirt serve as a good way to disguise her face as she walks out of her room. There’s a large plane of glass stretching a few feet on each side that lets her see the outside world even better. The sun’s still out.

Whatever city she was in is on display in front of her. It looks like an abandoned QZ that they’ve taken over. Makeshift crop fields and tired people litter the streets. She backs away from the glass, not wanting to get distracted. Rounding the corner, she hears laughter and whoops of joy. 

A group of Rattlers sit all around a table, beers in hand and blunts on the table. One of them, a woman, peers over at Dina entering the scene.

“Care to join?” She asks, tilting a bottle in greeting.

“I’d love to, but I’ve gotta head out.” Dina declines, “You guys have fun without me.” She goes to leave, but a man speaks up.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, you a newbie or something?”

Dina freezes in the middle of her step away, she fights to keep her cool, “Um, yeah, I just joined a few days ago. I filled in for Maverick today.” She fidgets with her fingers, wishing she had her bracelet to play with, but she had given it to Ellie a while ago.

He looks at her, eyes narrowed and lips pursed, then he just shrugs, “Okay. Glad he got a break, guy works too hard.” He waves with a half smile, whether from being drunk or high she’s not sure, “See ya ‘round.” Dina gives him a curt nod, walking so fast she’s almost running to get away from this place. From the posters and bulletins still up, she guesses it used to be a school of some sort. Now it was some makeshift prison.

The front doors are in her line of sight soon enough and Dina lets out a sigh of relief. She just needed to get out of here and she’d be home free. She pushes it open and the cool spring air hits her forcefully. Bringing a hand over her eyes, she blocks the sunlight and gauges her surroundings. There are some Rattlers outside too, guarding the outside perimeter. She says hi to some of them, not wanting to stand out for being anti social.

From behind her, she hears a harsh voice call out, “Stop! You can’t leave the base!”

She turns back with a frustrated huff, “I needed some air.” 

He’s a big man with a scruffy beard, and it takes everything in Dina to not book it out of there when he could easily shoot her down.

“Break isn’t for another hour for prisoner guards.” He points to her chest, where an embroidered orange x rests on the uniform. Is that what that meant? 

Another person comes running out of the school, “Where’d that girl go?” They turn to see Dina, it’s a woman, different from before, she looks especially irritated, “You!”

Before Dina can respond she’s running up to her and pinning her hands behind her back, “She escaped.” The woman informs the man.

Dina tries to shove her away, “Get off of me!” She screams, hoping to slip out and risk taking a run for it now, but the man helps the woman keep her still.

“How’d she do it?” He asks.

“I dunno, but a guard went to check on her room and it was locked, so we got it open and Maverick was practically dead on the floor!” She continues, “The little bitch got out!”

_ Okay, that was an exaggeration,  _ Dina thinks, not the bitch part, but she didn’t think defending herself would be such a smart move right now. She tries to get the man to budge from his grip, but it’s only in vain when compared to how much more forceful he is.

They drag her back inside, the man pushes her into her room where Maverick no longer rests. She stumbles forward, her face bouncing off the metal bed frame. The door is shut and she’s alone.

Fuck, she’d been so close. If only she hadn’t been stopped.

She brings a finger to her face, blood leaking from her split lip. That guy really pushed her with no hesitation, but she knows things could’ve gone way worse. Her eyes flit up to that same clock from earlier.

7:19 AM

Huh, so it  _ was _ broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry dina! you and ellie will be back together soon...


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is unintentionally the longest chapter??? i’m not sure how that happened 
> 
> this chapter includes things about planes that may or may not be realistic. i tried my best ok

**_“Really? The silent treatment?”_ **

**_Dina says nothing, continuing to wade further in the lake, her bathing suit slowly disappearing under the water._ **

**_Ellie pinches the bridge of her nose, “Okay, okay. I get why you’re mad, but can we please talk?” She lets out an exasperated sigh, “Why’d you have to come out all the way over here?”_ **

**_Again, nothing._ **

**_Ellie knows she should walk away and wait for Dina to cool off, but she’s far too stubborn to give up now. A lightbulb goes off in her head._ **

**_She shrugs off her jacket, leaving herself in her white t-shirt and slips off her sneakers and socks. Dina only stares back at her, if she’s confused she doesn’t show it._ **

**_Ellie finds a relatively tall tree nearby and begins to climb it. She glances back down at Dina, now she looks a little worried and Ellie stays silent as she continues upwards._ **

**_When she makes it to the top, Ellie takes a deep breath in and jumps into the body of water with a cannonball._ **

**_“What the fuck is wrong with you?”_ **

**_Ellie smirks, “You’re talking to me now, aren’t you?”_ **

**_“Yeah, because that was stupid. You didn’t even bring anything to wear in here!” Dina reprimands her, swimming closer in concern._ **

**_Ellie shrugs, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes, “Eh, I’ll be fine, but…” She trails off with a pointed look, “Can we talk now?”_ **

**_Rolling her eyes, Dina says, “Fine.”_ **

**_“Good.” Ellie tells her, “I know that what I did was reckless, so I’m sorry.”_ **

**_“It’s not just about what you did, it’s how you handled it, Ellie.”_ **

**_Ellie furrows her brows, “What do you mean?”_ **

**_Dina sighs, “You didn’t need to go out on that patrol alone.” She blinks and now Ellie can see she’s holding back tears, “I mean, I know we were short and you wanted to step up, but you didn’t tell me you were leaving. I had to find out from Jesse.”_ **

**_“Well, that’s ‘cause I knew you weren’t going to like it.” Ellie explains, feeling a bit shameful now._ **

**_“But when you’re together with someone, you can’t just keep secrets like that! What if you had gotten hurt or fucking died?” Dina’s stare burns right through her, “I can’t do that again. You’re all I have you asshole.”_ **

**_Ellie’s shoulders slump, remembering the stories she’d been told of Dina’s family, her siblings and parents dying in their own gruesome ways, “Oh. I-” She stops herself, not wanting to say something stupid, “I’m sorry. You’re right, that wasn’t okay. I won’t do it again.”_ **

**_Dina sniffs, rubbing her eyes and Ellie can’t take seeing her so despondent anymore so she hugs her. Dina immediately relaxes in her embrace and they stay like that, if you asked them for how long they wouldn’t know, too wrapped up in each other’s presence. Ellie presses a kiss to the crown of Dina’s head._ **

**_When she does let go, Ellie asks, “Can we get out now? I’m turning into a prune.” She holds her wrinkled hand out for emphasis, “I also regret drenching my last set of clean clothes.”_ **

**_Dina laughs, nose crinkling in digust as she starts to swim back, “That’s gross.”_ **

**_“You love it.” Ellie teases, following her lead._ **

**_Fondly smiling, Dina says, “Whatever you say.”_ **

**_____**

Wearily, Ellie opens her eyes, an involuntary groan escaping her lips. She moves her hands, clutching the sheets she was tucked into. It felt so warm and cozy. She felt safe. But, as she attempts to sit up, she realizes that she has no idea where she is. 

On high alert, she tries to get out of bed, almost falling over. The room is lit up by a lightbulb, the dim lighting adding to the comfort levels. The walls are barren save for some paintings here and there. The bed creaks with her every moment. She grunts, trying to stand but weakness overtakes her and sends her back down.

“Woah there, take it easy.”

Ellie jumps, looking over to see an older woman lingering by the door frame. She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing seems to come out. The woman sends a warm smile her way before actually walking into the room. “Are you feeling any better?” She asks. Her tone is soft and her southern accent reminds her of Joel.

Ellie swallows roughly, “Where- Where am I?” She stutters out.

“My house, on top of a mountain. Being so high up leaves me far away from where infected usually roam.” She straightens a hand out, “My name’s Betty.”

“How did I get here and for how long?” Ellie asks, foregoing the handshake to feel around her pockets for her knife. It was there, but she was missing her backpack.

Betty takes her hand back, not seeming too offended, “You passed out on a shore nearby about 2 days ago. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to help you. You looked like shit.” 

Finally noticing that her shoulder was freshly bandaged and her face didn’t feel as grimy as before, Ellie realizes she must be telling the truth. Betty reaches into a small cooler near the bedside, pulling out an ice pack. She hands it to Ellie, “For your nose.” She explains.

This Ellie does take, sighing with content at the relief it brings, she looks back at Betty, “How do I know you won’t kill me or something?”

Eyes widening, Betty claps her hands and throws her head back, “Ha! You don’t pull any of your punches, do you?” She continues, gray hair bobbing with her hearty laughs, “Trust me, you wouldn’t be here if I wanted you dead.” 

Ellie’s stomach lets out an embarrassingly loud growl, “You got any food?”

“I just finished cooking. You can join me if you’d like?” Betty winces at her struggles to move, “Or I can bring it in here.”

Ellie waves her off, “I’m fine. Let’s eat.” 

Betty nods, “Bathroom’s to the right if you wanna wash up a bit.” She leads a limping Ellie out the door. 

_____

It’s a small bathroom, with little space to move around, but all Ellie wants to do is wash her face. Switching the tap open, she wets her hands then scrubs them with the soap she can only assume was homemade. It smells like roses, and Ellie only knew that because she had gifted some locally grown ones to Dina once. (Who knew that planting something could take so long? She sure as hell didn’t.)

As she dries her face with her towel, she inspects it. The swelling in her nose had gone down some, but it was still tainted with the slightest hint of purple. Her split lip had stopped actively bleeding a while ago. She touches her side to see if it still hurts and it does.

Wanting a closer look she lifts her t-shirt up, examining the yellowing spot with her fingers. A nasty red crooked line catches her eye, she pulls her shirt up even more and is welcomed by a hastily healing scar. The one the woman had made.

It’s much clearer now. The way two c-like shapes cross each other with a line horizontal through them. She guesses it’s the scar symbol or some bullshit like that. She doesn’t touch it, though, because that would mean it was real. What they had done to her was real. Her being helpless in that moment had been real.

And in the dull light of the bathroom, she pulls her shirt back down, pretending that it wasn’t.

_____

The home is quaint, the kitchen and living room connected with an open entrance. She sees another bedroom door open, most likely Betty’s. The smell of home cooked food wafts to Ellie, directly to her stomach. It reminds her of Jackson. God, she missed the food there. 

Taking a seat at the large wooden table, a bowl of stew is placed in front of her with a spoon. She doesn’t wait for Betty to sit and digs in after not having a proper meal in days.

As she chews she looks around the home more and sees a section of the living room dedicated to certificates and awards from places such as  _ The National Intercollegiate Flying Association  _ and the  _ National Aviation Academy.  _ “What’s all that for?” She asks with a mouthful of food. If Dina were here she’d have been awarded a dirty look for doing so.

Betty follows her gaze and a small smile comes when she sees the wall, “Before the outbreak, I was a pilot. A damn good one at that, I’d say.” She motions out the front door, “I still have my own plane out there in my garage.”

Ellie’s eyes light up at the statement, shoving another spoonful into her mouth, “Really? That’s so cool.”

“Yup, I don’t use it much, but it’s nice to know it’s there for me.”

“Do really not get much infected up here?”

Betty shakes her head, “No, any I do quickly meet the wrath of my electric fence.”

Nodding, Ellie slurps up the rest of the food, setting the bowl down with a clank, “Can we go see that plane?” 

Betty agrees, leading her outside. The air this high up was much colder, so Ellie puts on her flannel, which felt suspiciously cleaner than before. The house overlooks the forest down below and an electric fence buzzes all around them. The garage is open with the push of a button at its side. The door slowly lifts up, revealing an all black propeller plane that could seat four people at most. 

“Woah.” Ellie breathes out, a hand ghosting over the plane’s nose, her reflection mimicking her movements. She had never seen one in person before. All she knew about planes were from old books from before the outbreak, which was only that they could fly all around the world.

“She’s definitely my pride and joy.” Betty affirms, patting it with a grin.

“I can see why.” Ellie says, but the moment of awe fades quickly as she remembers why she was out in the woods in the first place, “Well, this is nice and all, but I should get going soon. I need to find somebody.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I need to find a friend. She’s really important to me.”

Betty gives her an amused look, “A friend? Hun, you don’t gotta lie to me.”

A furious blush coats Ellie’s face. “Fine. She’s my girlfriend, okay? She was taken a few days ago and I  _ still _ haven’t found her.” Was it really that obvious? Dina would have a field day with this information if she ever found out how whipped Ellie was.

A reassuring hand is set on her shoulder, “I know what it’s like to lose people you love. If you really think you’re ready to go, you can.” A curious look takes over, “Where abouts are you headed?”

“Uh, I think it was the Redworth clocktower?” Ellie pauses, “Yeah, that’s it. She should be near there.”

With raised eyebrows, Betty lets her know that, “That’s a good ways away from here, kid. On foot you’d be lucky to get there in a day.”

Ellie’s face falls at this, “Seriously? For fuck’s sake.” She mutters to herself. Suddenly, she points at the plane, “Well... what if you took me there on the plane? That’d be faster, right?” 

Betty scoffs, as if not believing she’d ask that, “I dunno. I haven’t used it in years, and there ain’t much gas in it.” She strokes her chin, thinking, “Well, actually…”

“What?” Ellie asks excitedly.

“There  _ is  _ this Hunter camp I’ve been watching closely when I’m out hunting. They look packed to the brim with a lot of supplies I’d love to have, but I’m getting too old to be pulling off stuff like that on my own.”

Ellie realizes that this is their chance, “What if I helped you? To take them out and steal anything good they might have?” She offers the idea with a twinge of desperation and Betty seems to pity her for the moment.

“Alright, fine. If we can do this, then I’ll fly you to the clocktower.”

**_____**

The walk to the camp is silent and serious, both Ellie and Betty mentally preparing for whatever the Hunters may have up their sleeves. Ellie can only hope it went better than her last encounter with them. 

The camp isn’t enormous, consisting of a few large tents surrounding a campfire. Most of the Hunters are seated on logs around the fire, guns in hand. Some stay on the outskirts, guarding with watchful eyes.

Betty, for all her talk of being old, is still as sharp as ever in devising a plan for them. Her strategy is to play it smart and safe by throwing a few molotovs away from the camp to get them to abandon it for a moment. When that happens, they run and stuff as much as they can into their backpacks. 

It goes smoothly, the distraction pulls a few, not all, away from their conversations around the fire, they were smarter than anticipated, but they could work with that. Betty motions for Ellie to follow her deeper into the camp. A lone woman smoking by one of the tents with her back turned is shot down by Ellie’s bow in one swift move. 

Further in, about 4 Hunters had stayed behind, continuing their chatter like the forest to the left of them hadn’t spontaneously burst into flames. Betty throws a rock towards the tent furthest from them, where there were only makeshift beds and nothing of interest to them. A pair tear away from the conversation to check it out.

Ellie looks over at Betty who nods back and they both knife the remaining two in their necks. 

There’s two main tents they look through, finding ammunition, canned food, and gasoline. When they turn, a man is barely walking in. 

He raises his revolver, “Who the fuck are you two?”

Betty wastes no time in tackling him down, knocking the gun away from his hand. A stray bullet blasts out of it amidst the tussle.

Instinctively, Ellie yells out, “No!” She joins Betty on the ground and shoots him once in the face. The bang flies through the thin tarp of the tent. That was definitely not subtle. They were on a timer now.

Ellie helps Betty up, giving her a once over, “You okay?”

“I’m fine, don’t you worry. But, we’ve gotta get out of here, the rest of ‘em definitely heard that.”

Busting out of the Tent’s flaps, they’re not so far away from the shouts of the Hunters heading back. They sprint the rest of the way back.

**_____**

Back in the garage, Betty fills her plane’s tank up to be full. 

“Thanks again for the help.” She tells Ellie, not looking up.

Ellie gives her a small smile, “No problem.  _ I _ should be thanking you for lending me a whole plane for my stupid mission.”

“Hey, come on now, love is never stupid.” Betty sternly informs her. She removes the gas from the plane and closes it back up, “Okay, she should be good now. You need any more time to prepare?”

“No. I’m ready to go.”

Betty snaps her fingers, “Ah, wait, I’ve gotta teach you how to use a parachute.”

Jaw dropped, Ellie can only say, “What?” 

“Well, the clocktower is in the middle of a QZ that’s crawling with people, if you really wanna land there, my plane will not be subtle and I’m assuming you want subtle, right?” 

Ellie nods silently, but she can’t bring herself to say anything. A parachute? That was for ju

mping out of the fucking thing. Oh my god, she was going to die. This was it.

Betty shrugs, as if she hasn’t dropped the biggest bomb Ellie’s ever heard since she found out she was immune, “It’s settled then.” She reaches into one of the plane’s seats, taking out what Ellie can only assume is a parachute. She points to a black joystick looking thing, “These are the toggles, you use them t-”

“What the fuck?” Ellie interrupts.

Betty looks up, clueless, “What?’

Ellie throws her hands up, “You can’t just say that and then move on like you’re telling me the fucking weather!”

“Well, you don’t have many options. It’s walking or a parachute, honey.”

Ellie huffs, annoyed that she was technically right, “Okay, okay, just, uh,give me a second to process this, fuck.” Betty leaves her be to decide if Dina was worth this. The only answer that comes is _ obviously. _

**_____**

The 15 minute crash course on all things parachutes leaves Ellie even more anxious then when she has first agreed to it, but when Betty finishes, asking her if she got all that, she gives her a weak thumbs up. Betty seems to believe her.

The plane is stuffy at best and Ellie wonders how in the hell that things could ever fit four people. She straps herself in, already equipped with a parachute. As it rumbles on accompanied with Betty’s whoop of joy, she clutches onto the leather seat in anticipation. Here we go.

If this had been any other scenario, she might’ve looked out the window to take in the gorgeous scenery of the Wyoming wilderness, but now it only serves to show how far she will be jumping from. She keeps her eyes shut, trying to calm her shaking body.

An hour or two later, Betty gives her a quick before returning to steering, “We’re just about there. Get ready to jump!” She shouts over the booming wind around them.

Ellie just nods. This was going to royally suck.

Finally opening her eyes, Ellie sees the Redworth Tower standing tall and proud over the city. 

“Remember, tug on both toggles to slow down your descent. I’ll circle around one of the big farms, if you land in the corn it should be tall enough to cover you.”

She does just that, and gives Ellie a reassuring smile, mouthing good luck. Ellie looks down, swallowing harshly. Then, she unlatches her window’s side, opening it fully to a blast of cold air. She stands in her seat, stumbling. She glances back at Betty who’s too focused on keeping them in place to see her off.

She takes a deep breath, mutters, “Please don’t let me die.” To whoever will listen and takes the leap. But, in all honesty, dying from a parachute was preferred to dying from having her face eaten off from infected.

For a moment, the world stops, frozen in midair. She can’t even scream at the initial shock, only focusing on steering onto the large expanse of the green field. Although, a tiny voice in the back of her mind is rotating between shit and fuck. 

As the ground approaches, her hand travels to the ripcord, yanking it like her life depends on it, which it  _ did _ . 

She slows herself down and, before she knows it, her shoes are back on the ground. The sweet, sweet ground she could almost kiss with happiness for steadying her.

The corn envelopes her as Betty had said and Ellie looks up, her plane long gone. The clocktower is beside the field, but there seems to be nobody working on them now since it was getting later into the evening. She hoped nobody had heard the ruckus. 

She takes off the parachute, abandoning it between the crops, hoping to never see one again, when a hand grabs her shoulder, pulling her back. 

“What-!” She begins to exclaim, until she sees who it is. Relief settles into her bones.

Then, she lowers her voice to a whisper, “What the hell are you doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! we’re in the home stretch now :D (betty is based off of nick rye from far cry 5 because i love that game too)
> 
> i’m already working on a new story! it’s also ellie/dina but a modern au! i’ve got it all planned so i just need to write it now (the hardest part lol) and it’ll have an interesting twist to it


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another chunky chapter!! AND my favorite duo is here. enjoy <3

“You really think I’d let you do this on your own?”

It’s Joel.

He’s tired, she can see the furrow in his brows is almost permanently set. There’s a gash on his chin, partially covered by his beard. His right hand’s bandaged and a smear of red is underneath it. But, fuck, it’s _him,_ and Ellie can truly say she’s never felt more happy to see him. 

She struggles to find the right words to tell him this, and settles on, “What the fuck, Joel?”

He laughs in that way that makes her feel like she’s missed the joke, “Nice to see you, too.” 

“How long have you been following me?”

“Since the morning after you left, you ain’t too good at covering your tracks.” He strokes his beard, “But, about two days ago, I lost ya. After that, I did my own digging to get to the clocktower.” 

Ellie doesn’t ask him to elaborate on that, knowing it probably didn’t involve the most noble of acts. Before she can say anything he asks, pointing to the sky “Was that really you jumping out from up there?”

She covers her face with her hands, “Ugh, yes.” Peeking an eye out, she warns him, “Don’t ask.” He only chuckles, respecting her demand.

Straightening up, she nods at the clocktower, “Well, if you’re up for it, we’ve got some breaking in to do.”

He nods firmly, a furious glint appearing in his eyes, sometimes it’s hard to forget how loved Dina was by literally everyone she meets, “Let’s do it.”

The tread away from the crops, the sun sets and they’re grateful for the cover of night to move forward. The silence is comfortable, both covering each other’s backs with due diligence. They vault the fence surrounding the field with ease and get down onto the broken down road systems. Ellie’s double checking her gun’s loaded when Joel taps her and puts a finger over his lips, eyeing a few figures up ahead. Three Rattler soldiers stand, talking about something Ellie can’t quite make out. 

Two would be easy to take down, but a third one risks outing themselves, so they stay low and sneak past them.

“Yeah, she tried breaking out! Took his clothes and everything, what a fucking idiot. She gets one whole room for herself and this is how she shows she’s grateful?” One of them complains, and Ellie can’t help but wonder if it was Dina who they were talking about. So, she had tried to escape on her own? Ellie wasn’t surprised, Dina was always one to take matters into her own hands, even when it wasn’t the smartest choice.

“I’ve heard that the prisoners room in the school.” Joel tells her, keeping his hand on his gun, prepared for the first sign of a fight. 

“Do you know how guarded it is?”

“Nope, maybe I shouldn’t ‘ve killed that guy so quick after he told me that.” 

Ellie raises her eyebrows at his statement, “Guess we’ll have to find out.” She sticks by his side. It reminds her of past days stuck going from town to town, campfires where they took turns sleeping, and trying to survive off of one deer for the entirety of Winter once. That was, of course, until they found Jackson. And then Ellie found Dina.

She tries to not dwell on the past much because her present had been so much more fulfilling. She had Dina now, and those fuckers had taken her away without so much as a second thought. They deserved whatever was coming.

Joel stops, holding Ellie’s arms to keep her in place, “Looks like there’s not many protecting the place at night.” He stands, straining to look over the gates of the school from this far back, “We’ve gotta get closer, who knows how many will be inside.”

The gates wrapping around the building are at least 8 feet tall, so, after finding a secluded enough area, Joel boosts Ellie up and she jumps down the other end, searching for whatever could help him follow her. The nearest Rattler shoulder stands by, rummaging through some boxes marked _AMMO,_ she hopes that keeps them occupied for enough time.

She finally spots a rope and flings it over the other side, in seconds he’s tugging on it and climbing up. Ellie tries her best to support his much stronger body, digging her heels into the dirt. As he pops his head over, she lets go and he joins her on the ground with a soft grunt. 

The Rattler looks up with confusion at the noise, they both go prone in the tall enough grass, inching further and further away and soon they’re safe again. Ellie sits up, leaning against more of those same boxes, Joel copies her movements.

“What now?” He whispers.

Ellie peeks over the boxes, the entrance had more soldiers than they could take down stealthily, but the roof had only one sniper up there, it’s red dot glaring outwards. She points up, “We get up there, maybe get through a window or some vents.” He follows her finger, nodding and they get going once more.

It’s almost unnerving how vacant the sides of the school are, although it does make things easier for them as they climb a rusty ladder. Ellie goes first, stopping just short of the last rung, double checking that the sniper was alone. When she makes sure, she climbs onto the roof, Joel closely behind. He lets her do the killing while he examines the roof for any way inside.

As Ellie wipes the blood off her knife on her jeans, she asks, “You got anything?”

“There’s, uh, a window here that looks in, it’s pretty big though, breaking it could bring ‘em all running to us.” He explains, tapping the glass on said window.

“If they do, we fight back, yeah?” She asks him, making sure he’s on board.

He purses his lips, “We don’t got much of a choice.”

She crouches next to the window, “You got anything to break it with?” He shakes his head.

So, she kicks downward with as much force as she can muster, it shatters on impact. Joel jumps at the sudden movement, “What the hell are you doing? You could've cut your leg open.” He places his hands on his hips, giving her that disappointed dad look.

“I got it open, didn’t I?” He scoffs and shoves her out of the way before jumping down a few feet below. He glances up, waiting. Once down, they check over where they landed. It looks like an old science classroom with lab equipment still set up on some desks. To think that this place was once inhabited by wide eyed children ready to learn makes it even more depressing to look at.

Shaking her head, Ellie goes to the door, peeking out into the hallway and sees two soldiers to the right posted up. She informs Joel of this and they get out of the room to knock them out at the same time. She loots one of the bodies, happy to find a folded up paper. It looked like a key to figure out what soldiers were which, but the one that caught her eye was the orange x symbol for the prisoner guards. He also has a set of keys that could come in handy later.

She sees that same sign on their uniforms, and pokes Joel’s side, “These two were in charge of watching the prisoners, so we’re in the right place.” 

“So you didn’t believe me when _I_ told you that?”

“It helps to make sure.” She bites her lip to stop herself from smiling too hard at his exaggerated offense.

He waves her away, lips set in a hard line, “Whatever, let’s keep going.”

Again, Ellie can’t help but wonder where everybody is. Her mind sits on edge, preparing for anything that could jump out. Eventually, they get to another hallway, from the inside of a few people bang and shout about being let out. This was definitely where the prisoners were. The trouble now was guessing which room Dina would be in.

As the yells of the prisoners grow louder, she realizes that this might be their one chance to actually get out. So, she pulls out the keys, conducting trial and error until each door opens and men, women, and children run out. Some thank her and some just leave without looking back and she can’t say she blames them.

Returning her attention to Dina, she recalls one of the soldiers saying she’d been rooming by herself, though Ellie can’t for the life of her guess why they’d do that just for Dina. Joel follows her lead silently as she goes up to a single door with no sounds emitting from it. Surprisingly, the knob turned easily, not locked for some reason.

Ellie turns back at Joel, he nods at the ready with his gun out. Mirroring his movements, she opens the door all the way through.

It’s Dina. 

Fuck, it’s _Dina_.

She’s sitting on a bed, her leg bouncing up and down. She glances up at Ellie, but it’s not with relief. She looks scared and Ellie chalks it up to having been fucking kidnapped for days now. In her tunnel vision, all she sees is her girlfriend. The love of her life.

“Ellie?” Dina says in a small voice, eyes widening, she sees her already trying to get closer, “No, wait-”

“Dina.” She breathes out, all but running up to hug her. She was here. She was good. She was safe.

Ellie’s tackled down in one swift motion, she can hear Joel yell her name out in concern before he’s down too. She looks at the perpetrator, a soldier, “Fucking let go!” She screams at him as he pins her down with more force. Her eyes meet Dina’s, who’s also being pulled back by more soldiers, trying to get to Ellie. What the fuck was happening?

She’s pulled up despite her protests, another soldier stands in front of her, “Nice job, soldiers. We got her.” He smirks, eyeing her up and down grossly. He turns to Dina, cupping her chin, “And thank you, too. You’ve been _very_ helpful.”

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” Ellie yells at him, wriggling to escape the grip she’s in.

The man sneers, “Don’t you worry, she’ll be out of here safe and sound soon enough, along with your little friend there.” He says wiggling a finger at Joel, then he looks at her,“We just need you, Ellie.”

“What?” 

“You really haven’t figured it out yet? She was just bait to get you here.” He leans towards her, getting too close for comfort, “When we heard the Fireflies were giving a reward of supplies guaranteed to last the year for whatever group brought you to them, well,” He pauses, a sick grin appearing, “We knew we had to get on top of it.”

Ellie feels all the air get sucked out of her, like she’s been punched in the gut. That cult lady hadn’t been lying. The Fireflies were back, and they were out to get her. All these groups of Hunters, Seraphites, and Rattlers were only gunning for the prize. They had put her through hell again just because she was immune, those _pricks_.

As much as she wishes things were different, she clutches onto the fact that Joel and Dina would get out of here alive if she cooperated with the Rattlers. She stops struggling, “If I let you take me, you’ll let them go, right?”

Dina speaks up, “Ellie, no, we’re leaving togeth-”

“Yes, if you agree then they can go.” The man cuts her off. That fucking giddy expression on his face tells her he already knows what she’ll do.

Ellie picks her head up, the picture of calmness, “Okay. Take me then.”

Immediately, Dina and Joel are shouting over the man grabbing her and taking her away, trying to negotiate a different plan, but it’s all in vain as she walks out, a sad smile painted on her face. She would be okay as long as they were.

Suddenly, there’s a thump and a cry of pain, Ellie turns with the man to see Dina weilding a pen in her hand, a frenzied look in her eyes. The soldier she stabbed groaning on the floor. Joel is quick to realize that this is his chance too, so he elbows the man keeping his hands behind his back. Then, he grabs his gun that had fallen and shoots him.

This sets off the rest of the soldiers to pull out their guns, but Joel shoots some more and wrestles one onto the hard floor. Ellie snaps out of her reverie to grab her backpack one of the soldiers threw to the side. She pulls out her other gun, tossing it to Dina and the three get to work.

The man next to her takes out his own pistol, they shoot each other at the same time, but Ellie’s smart enough to get the headshot. 

A hot white pain runs through her whole body as she looks down in shock, realizing she’s been shot in her stomach. Kneeling over with a grimace, she places a hand over it and it does nothing to stop the blood from pouring out.

“Oh my god, Ellie!” Dina cries out as the gunfire ceases, bending down to her level, her voice breaks, “Fuck, we need to get you out of here.” She sounds warped in Ellie’s ears as all she registers is the world slowly getting dizzier around her. She opens her mouth and nothing comes out. 

Joel joins Dina, “We gotta run, they all definitely heard that.” He faces Ellie, “Come on, kiddo. You gotta fight to stay awake. You’ll be okay.” She’s not sure if he’s trying not to cry at the sight of her. 

It reminds Ellie of Winter when she was fourteen, when it was just her because Joel had been impaled. When she had been struggling to stay sane with no one to talk to. But, Joel would have it easier. He had Dina and Tommy and the whole of Jackson town. He wouldn’t be alone. And that comforted Ellie.

She feels her stomach being wrapped in something, maybe Joel’s jacket? Pulled to her feet, her arms rest on each of their shoulders. Her breaths come out short and ragged with each step taken, only comforted by the voices of the most valued people in her life.

They burst out the front doors, the moon glares down at them as Dina and Joel try to find the best route to get out. The shots and shouts of other Rattler soldiers creeping up serves as an adrenaline booster. 

Out of the sky, a whirring catches the trio’s attention. Ellie gapes at what’s making the noise.

Betty’s plane. And it’s about to fucking land.

Joel looks down as she clings onto him, “That for us?”

Ellie nods wearily, not able to form words. One, because she just got shot. Two, because she couldn’t believe Betty actually came back. That woman was beyond amazing, and also a little bit insane, probably.

A forceful gust of wind blows over them as Betty comes down in front of their eyes. The top opens and she’s shouting, “Get in!” They scurry forward, Joel helping Ellie get situated in her seat before he and Dina plop down as well. The plane closes up just as bullets begin to fly to them from dozens of soldiers still on the ground. 

Gazing down at her wound, Ellie feels guilty for leaving the well cleaned seat covered in blood. Soon enough, lifts them up into the atmosphere, narrowly avoiding getting blown to bits by the shots. Hordes of prisoners shoot back, somehow having discovered where the weapons were kept, and she can’t help but feel satisfied to see some of the soldiers get shot down by the very people whose lives they made hell.

The last thing she can overhear is Betty asking Joel what the hell just happened. The last thing she can feel is Dina’s hand grabbing onto her bloodied one without hesitation, whispering that she’ll make it out okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh reunited at last :D
> 
> BUT WILL THEY BE OKAY???
> 
> who knows
> 
> (i know)
> 
> UPDATE CORNER, if anyone cares to read:
> 
> -the next chapter will probably take longer than usual to post because i’ve come up with a new idea for it that still needs to be written in its entirety, it’s just something to tie up loose ends and add more development in general. hopefully the wait is worth it though!
> 
> -college starts on monday for me, and i’m new to that whole thing so sorry if that causes even more delays
> 
> -today’s my bday, but i couldn’t help but still post a new chapter hehe
> 
> -last but not least, thanks for all the love i’ve gotten on this fic :D you guys are great


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ellie’s in the hospital and gets a few visits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait on this one! school starting has taken my priorities for a bit, but i hope you all enjoy this even if it’s shorter than usual!

After Ellie’s first night at the Jackson Hospital, she’s told to stay for at least a week to make sure she’s rested up as much as possible. It wasn’t something that was new to her. Bullet wounds had been a part of her life for as long as she can remember, but that doesn’t mean it gets any easier to take one. 

Laying in the hospital bed, she hears a soft knock on her door.

“Come in.” 

Opening it is Joel. He’s holding comic books in one hand and waving with the other. “Hey, kiddo.” He greets with a warm smile.

She waves back and gestures to the books, “Those for me?”

“Yep.” He nods, “Figured you’d lose your mind if you didn’t have some entertainment in here.” Placing them on the side of her bed, he pulls up a chair to sit next to her. He rubs the broken glass on his watch absentmindedly.

Ellie beams, holding up one of the issues, “Well, you figured right. Thanks, Joel.” She glances back at him as he looks off in his own world. It’s usually a telltale sign that he’s nervous about something.

“Everything okay?” She asks.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s good.” Pausing, he worries his lower lip, “Well, uh, actually I need to talk to you about some stuff.”

“Some stuff?” She repeats, puzzled.

“Yeah.” He confirms, “It’s nothing to be too worried about, just a thing I’ve been dealing with while you’ve been resting up.”

“That’s extremely vague.” She deadpans.

He smiles lopsidedly, “Heh, sorry.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he continues, “Since we’ve come back, I’ve been looking into how the Fireflies knew we were here and how they knew you were close with Dina.”

Ellie nods. It was something that had stayed tucked away in the back of her mind. The idea that they had been spied on in one way or another was terrifying. Maybe it wouldn’t be as unnerving if they hadn’t targeted Dina specifically, but they did and that could never be forgiven in her mind.

Joel clears his throat, as if preparing to give a speech, “After some asking around, someone came forward and confessed to being a mole of sorts for them.” 

Choking on a nonexistent drink, Ellie’s eyes widen, “What? Who are they?” As the terrible memories of her journey to Dina come back, she grows angrier, almost jumping off the bed “Let me have a fucking word with that asshole.”

Joel places a hand on her shoulder to settle her down, and it works a little as she sinks back down, “Relax. I dealt with them already. Maria had them exiled almost immediately.”

“Who were they?” Ellie asks.

“A cafeteria worker. He had come here as a refugee a few months ago, probably to scope the town out, plus what better way to see who we interact with then when we go out to eat?”

Ellie huffs, pursing her lips, “So, what? Do we seriously need to make sure every refugee that comes to Jackson isn’t here to whisk me or my friends away?” 

Sighing, Joel runs a hand through his hair, “I dunno yet. Things like this take time to work out, kiddo. I just wanted to be the one to tell you, ‘kay?”

“Okay.” Ellie mumbles, not feeling convinced that they’ll have a solution ready as soon as possible.

He ruffles her hair, ignoring her disgruntled glare at him, “Cheer up. We’ll be okay.” Pausing, he points a thumb backwards, “By the way, there’s someone else who came to visit you.”

Exiting the room he leaves a curious Ellie behind, but the door opens again soon after he’s gone. 

“Dina, hey.” She says breathlessly as the girl walks in. They hadn’t seen each other much since the plane ride, and even then things are still fuzzy in Ellie’s mind due to her injuries at the time. But, seeing her now, like this, it made all those hardships worth it.

“How are you feeling?”

“I-I’m good. The scar’s already healing.” Did she seriously just stutter? They had been dating for a while now, so why did it feel like she was back to working up the courage to talk to her crush?

“That’s good.”

“Yeah,” Ellie agrees, “The doctor said I’d need some more bedrest before I can le-”

Dina cuts her off, “Can I hug you?”

Freezing, Ellie’s eyes widen, “Of course, you don’t have to ask.”

Almost shooting up from the chair beside the bed, Dina’s wrapping herself around Ellie’s body. Ellie can’t help the sigh of relief that escapes her as they press against each other. It had only been about a week of not seeing each other, but that felt like an eternity to her. Having her here now, knowing she was safe, it was all she really needed.

“I missed you a lot.” Dina mumbles into her chest, sniffling.

Ellie strokes her hair gently, “I missed you too.” She presses a kiss to her forehead, “I was so scared of losing you.” 

“I’m here.” Dina assures her, finding her hand and holding onto it tightly, “And I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Nodding, Ellie separates from the hug, wanting to look at her face and commit it to memory. She never wanted to forget it, the way her eyes crinkle when she smiled and how embarrassed she always got whenever Ellie pointed it out. The world had proven that it did not hold back when it came to those she held dear. 

“I love you.” Ellie blurts out, not knowing when she’ll be able to say so again, “I just need you to know that.” 

Dina looks up at her lovingly, “I know. I love you too, dummy.” She tucks a stray hair behind Ellie’s ear, “I’m really glad you’re okay. I was really worried.”

“I always pull through in the end, don’t I?” 

Chuckling softly, Dina says, “Yeah, you do.” She crawls into the small, cramped bed with Ellie and they lay there for the rest of the night, lost in each other’s words and bodies, knowing that the morning will ground them in reality once more.

It’s in this moment that Ellie can force herself to forget the obstacles she had to jump to get to it. The wounds were still there, raw and red and not all physical, but she thinks they could wait for another day. 

They usually aren’t quick to make themselves scarce anyways.

**_____**

The next day, it’s a welcome surprise when Betty visits her room with a bowl of that very same stew she had been gifted when they first met.

“You didn’t have to bring this.” Ellie sighs, feeling guilty for some reason.

With an outstretched hand, Betty insists, “I couldn’t come empty handed, and I made some extra that needed to be eaten anyways.” She smiles as Ellie relents and takes it gratefully.

She cools it off by blowing over the top, watching as the steam sways with the action, “Well, thank you, and not just for this, but for  _ everything  _ you’ve done. I don’t know how I could’ve gotten Dina back if it wasn’t for you.” She dips her spoon in and takes it bite.

“It’s nothin’. I’m just glad I could be of some help,” Ellie opens her mouth to speak before Betty continues, “And don’t ask how you could repay me, just eat your food and that’ll be enough for me, alright?”

Flushing bright red, Ellie nods silently, choosing to keep chewing rather than retort.

And, damn, it’s some  _ good _ fucking stew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m still debating on whether the last two chapters will stay as separate parts or if i should combine them for one big ending, but i’m excited to edit and post them nonetheless :D


	11. Chapter 11

_ ONE WEEK LATER _

Laying on her bed, Ellie reads a comic book to pass the time. She’d been ordered to stay on bedrest after leaving the hospital, which wasn’t supposed to be for another week, but she couldn’t stand another minute in that place any longer. Memories of St.Mary’s filled her too easily in there.

She spent most days in her room, sometimes accompanied by Dina, who, surprisingly, wasn’t too traumatized by the Rattlers, explaining to Ellie that she wasn’t worked to death. Ellie could only assume that was to show her that leaving with the Rattlers wouldn’t mean leaving an injured Dina behind.

Her ears perk up at the sound of her door opening, a happy Dina walking in with a bag of food in hand, “They ran out of those dinosaur nuggets you like, so I got you a burger.” She informs Ellie, leaning down to peck her on the cheeks before sitting on the foot of her bed.

Ellie sits up and sets the comic aside, ignoring the soreness that creates, “You’re the best, thank you.” She opens the bag quickly, taking her first bite. Dina watches her warily as she chews, like she knows something is off.

Gulping down a bite, Ellie tries to ease the tension, “I’ve been thinking,” She begins, “Technically, now I have two cool scars on my stomach from bullets.”

“Oh my god, “Dina groans, rolling her eyes, “Please don’t joke about that.” 

“But it’s true, see?” Ellie lifts her shirt up, partly to show she’s right and partly to tease Dina with the sight of her abs.

Except, Dina doesn’t look flustered, she looks concerned, eyeing her stomach with a steely gaze. Two of her fingers reach out to touch a certain curved line, “What’s this from?” Ellie’s not sure what she’s talking about until she sees where the other girl’s fingers landed, her breath hitches and she’s sure Dina sees it. The Seraphite symbol.

Ellie doesn’t dare meet her eyes, “It’s just a scar from a knife.” She all but whispers, hoping the quiver in her voice isn’t noticeable.

Dina stops touching, “Really?”

Ellie nods, “Yeah, it’s no biggie.” She pulls her shirt down, feeling stupid for making any jokes in the first place. 

“It’s just that it’s like a pattern or something. Are you sure? I-”

“It’s nothing Dina, can we _please_ talk about something else?” Ellie interjects, because she can’t fathom the idea of having to explain that she had lost control at some point, that she hadn’t come out on top in the end, that she had let herself get greedy and distracted enough for the Seraphites to capture her and for that woman to cut into her like she was some piece of meat. No fucking way, she was strong, and Dina saw her as so. To have her think differently would mean to have her see Ellie as fragile.

Dina purses her lips, like she wants to say something else but doesn’t, only raises her hands in defense “Okay, okay. I was just curious.” She looks pointedly at Ellie’s hand clutching the burger, “You should eat it before it gets cold.”

Ellie does exactly that, content with the subject change. Dina snuggles up next to her, slipping under her covers and it almost scares Ellie how necessary that feels, to know she was close and safe.

They sit in that silence for a moment before Dina clears her throat, Ellie sends her a confused look, beckoning her to speak.

“You know,” She starts, staring at the ceiling, “I’m still wondering about that lady that saved us. She was such a badass, but how in the hell did you meet her?”

Ellie grins, stifling a laugh, “Uh, I was kinda saved by her after jumping off a cliff.”

“You did what now?”

“I didn’t have much of a choice! I was being chased by Hunters.” 

Dina flips over to lean on her elbows, “Why don’t you talk more about what happened before you got to the Rattlers?” She pokes Ellie’s nose, “It seems really crazy.”

“It  _ was  _ crazy,” Ellie affirms, not really wanting to address the second part of what she said, “I dunno, those days were weird.” She fiddles with the burger wrapper, having already finished.

Dina’s expression turns gentler, “I think that’s why Jesse feels so bad, he keeps telling me he wished he could’ve helped.”

Ellie’s firm with her answer, “He shouldn’t. He was badly injured and made the right call to stay back.”

“If you don’t  _ tell  _ him that, he’ll think you hate him for not joining you. Everytime you two talk he gets like the nervous sweats or something.”

Ellie laughs, “What? I’m not that scary.” She really didn’t think so, somebody like Joel was definitely more terrifying.

“You kinda are, I’m pretty sure everybody in Jackson knows not to fuck with you, babe.” Dina tells her.

Ellie looks away, feeling a blush rising onto her cheeks, “Whatever. If you’re nice to me then I’ll be nice to you.”

They spend the rest of the day like that, bantering back and forth until it’s dark out and Dina spends the night. As they lay there, cuddling together, Ellie feels content.

**_____**

Later in the night, Ellie’s having dinner with Joel for the first time since they’ve been back. He cooked spaghetti, the noodles tasted a little stale, but Ellie lets him know that it’s really good anyways. It’s worth it to see his embarrassed smile.

As Ellie places her used plate in his sink, she gets to work on washing the rest. 

Joel places a hand on her shoulder, “You don’t have to do that.” He has his signature coffee mug in hand much to Ellie’s distaste.

“I know. I just want to. ” Ellie shrugs sheepishly, “I haven’t done much to repay you for helping me last week.”

“It’s fine, Ellie, really. Anyone who’s important to you is important to me, too.”

She shoves him slightly, “Okay, Mr. sappy.”

Joel scoffs, the ghost of a smile on his lips, “I’m being honest.”

“I’m gonna tell Dina you said that. She already jokes about you being her father-in-law.” 

Sipping on his coffee, he almost chokes at her statement, “What? Is, uh-- A-are you two-?” He pounds his chest twice to clear his throat and Ellie can only laugh at him.

“Oh my god, no! We’re not thinking of doing anything like that yet.” She defends, her face feeling hot. Marriage wasn’t something she had ever given much real thought to.

“Yet.” He repeats with an amused look.

She grumbles, “Shut up,” going back to scrubbing, trying to erase the image of a wedding from her head. Sometimes the thought entered her mind, of being married and doing it with no one but Dina. It felt like a fantasy, although she had never ruled the idea out completely. It  _ was  _ nice to think of a future like that to look forward to. 

“Well, whatever you do, make sure she treats you right.” He tells her in a firm voice.

Ellie looks up from the dishes, confused “You  _ know _ she does. I-” She notices his teasing expression, realizing he wasn’t actually being serious, “Ugh, you’re a dick.”

Joel shrugs as if to say  _ What can you do?  _ '' He sets down his mug with the pile she’s cleaning, “I’m gonna watch a movie.”

“Can’t you wait ‘til I’m done? I wanna watch with you.” She whines. They haven’t had a movie night in so long. It was a crime, really.

“Hey, you insisted upon it. I’m just following orders.” He chuckles at her pout before rolling up his sleeves and standing next to her, “Fine, lemme help you.”

Ellie grins, letting him help and they both begin, talking about everything and nothing as they clean and she’s aware that these little moments are what makes all the hell she’s been through worth it.

(Even if Joel gets mad at her for hogging the popcorn during the movie)

**_____**

It happens so fast that Ellie’s not even sure who starts it first.

Dina is mad. Ellie knows this. She knows because her cheeks are a little too red and her voice is a little too shaky. She knows this because she’s the cause of all the anger.

“Are you even hearing yourself right now?” 

Ellie pinches the bridge of her nose, “It’s just patrol.”

Dina huffs, “ _ Exactly.  _ You just got out of the hospital. Why are you even considering this?”

“I can’t stay cooped up forever.” Ellie sternly tells her, “It doesn’t even hurt much anymore.” She gestures to her stomach for emphasis. 

Dina finally raises her voice, “You still have trouble standing up! Are you seriously trying to lie to my face?  _ I’m  _ the one who’s been taking care of you, obviously I know how it’s been affecting you!” 

Narrowing her eyes, Ellie retorts, “Stop treating me like that!” 

“Like what?”

“Like I’m so fucking fragile!” Ellie clenches her jaw, “Like I’ll break at any sudden change! News flash: I won’t!”

Dina lowers her eyebrows, “Oh, sorry that I think that when you can’t ever tell me what you’re  _ really _ feeling!” She crosses her arms, “You get so fucking closed off sometimes, Ellie! I’m not a psychic!”

Hot tears burn around Ellie’s eyes, “Is this about that fucking scar?” Without thinking she blurts out, “I got it while being tortured! Is that what you  _ really  _ wanted to know?” She shakes her head, trying to get the tears to go away. That wasn’t anything she ever wanted to admit out loud.

“What?” Dina’s eyes are wide, like she can't register what’s been said.

Ellie drops her frustrated tone, “I didn’t-- I-I just-” She can barely get words out as the scene plays out in her head for the hundredth time. The cool metal dragging onto her smooth skin. Rough fingers painting her face with blood. Getting knocked down, getting pinned down. She hasn’t been able to get back up

She was just sinking further down. 

Down. 

Down. 

Down.

“Ellie.” Dina snaps her out of her spiral, but Ellie can’t stand to stay any longer. A gentle hand goes to take hers and she flinches, pushing it away.

“Please don’t touch me.” 

And Dina doesn’t.

**_____**

**_DINA_ **

There’s a dance the night of Dina and Ellie’s argument. They had both planned on going to it the minute they knew about it because it would’ve been a nice reprieve from all the shit they had gone through in the week before.

Except, now Dina was here alone, nursing a single beer because she didn’t want to get drunk when there was no guarantee that Ellie would be there to take her back home safely.

Ellie’s here too, conversing on the other end of the event hall Jackson used for, well,  _ events _ she supposed. Deep in talk with Joel and not sparing a glance to Dina. She looked nervous, her signature frown never leaving her face and Dina wished she could go over there and help Ellie through whatever was making her anxious, but, deep down, she knew that that thing was probably her. Her and her big mouth that had spouted terrible things to the person she loved most.

Dina sips once more, grimacing at how warm the once cool drink was becoming. She sets it down on the bar, giving up on trying to acquire a buzz. Footsteps nearby catch her attention, she glances up quickly, hoping it’s Ellie.

“Hey, Dina.” Jesse greets with a small wave.

She can’t help the disappointment in her voice when she replies, “Oh, hi.”

He points at her discarded drink, “You’re not gonna finish?”

Dina shakes her head.

He tilts his head curiously, “Can’t remember a time when you’ve ever done that.”

“What? Not finish a drink?” Dina raises her brows, “I’m not an alcoholic.”

Jesse chuckles, poking at the half empty brown bottle, “I know. It’s just funny how mopey you get without Ellie.” He smirks as she rolls her eyes,

“I am  _ not  _ being mopey!” 

“Whatever you say,” He shoves his hands in his pockets, “There is a thing called communicating with each other, though. I’m not sure if you two have heard about it.”

She punches his shoulder, “Shut up. I’m giving her space.” 

“Did she say she wanted space?”

Dina doesn’t say anything, realizing that she only assumed Ellie didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe she just wanted Dina to initiate the conversation, to show that she does care enough to apologize out of her volition.

Jesse takes her silence as an answer, “Talk to her.” He nods in Ellie’s general direction.

Sighing, Dina decides to screw it and downs the rest of her dreadful drink, resisting the urge to gag. 

This was going to be a long night.

**_____**

**_ELLIE_ **

Ellie stands at the far end of the hall, too anxious to even consider drinking. She had never been one to get blackout drunk anyways, the habit becoming stronger when she met Dina. Even before they dated, she was used to having to carry or drag a giggly Dina home to make sure she got back safely.

It seems she’d been whipped from the beginning. 

Joel had wandered off a while ago, talking about a woman named Esther he wanted to dance with. Ellie had let him go, not wanting to ruin his night with her own moodiness. So, here she is, awkwardly loitering off to the side, the regret for even being here setting in. 

Dina stands at the other end, looking just as uncomfortable with her attendance. Ellie wants to talk to her, but everytime she gets the courage to, it fades just as quickly. She doesn’t even know what to say. 

“You’re mopey too, huh?” 

Ellie jumps at the voice, looking up with wide eyes to see Jesse smiling.

“What do you mean?”

He shakes his head, “Jesus, you two have got it bad.” Ellie still looks puzzled, so he elaborates, “Dina’s doing the exact same thing you are right now.”

“And that would be?”

“Like I said, being mopey.”

Ellie goes to defend herself, but stops at Jesse’s knowing look. Sighing, she says, “I don’t know what to do.”

Placing a hand on her shoulders, he suggests, “Talking is a good way to start. Just...be real with her.”

Ellie glances curiously at his touch, “Why are you helping me?”

He shrugs, removing his hands “I talked to Dina, too. Now, one of you needs to actually take my advice.”

“So what, you’re like our therapist now?” Ellie jokes. Then, a thought hits her, a very weird one, “Or is this because you still feel bad about not joining me to save her?”

His silence speaks volumes.

Ellie resists the instinct to shout, “Oh my god! You’re kidding, right? Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“If helping you two just so happens to ease my guilt then so what?”

“Just so happens to-?” She repeats, exasperated, before taking in a calming breath, “You would not have wanted to be there for anything that happened! I don’t blame you for staying behind to heal. Your legs still fucked up from what they did to you.”

“So, you’re not mad at me?”

Ellie assures him, “Of course not.” Making sure to add, “Dina isn’t either.” If they ever got on good terms again, she’d need to apologize for not believing her when she was told how bad Jesse had been feeling.

Jesse grins, a lighter look on him, as if a weight had been carried off his shoulders . 

Dina’s voice drags them away from their conversation, “Can I have a word with her?” She asks Jesse who nods before turning to Ellie and mouthing ‘be real’ at her as he walks off.

Ellie stares at Dina’s fiddling fingers, unsure of what to say. 

The other girl continues speaking, “Hey.” She smiles warmly, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. It breaks Ellie’s heart a little. 

“Uh, hi.” Ellie striving to sound natural and failing miserably.

“I want to apologize, El.” She confesses, “What I said, it was way out of line and it forced you to tell me something you weren’t ready to. That was really shitty of me to do.” Her gaze stays focused on her own hands, too scared to look at Ellie directly.

The words, “It’s okay.” spill out before Ellie can stop them.

Shaking her head, Dina let’s her know that, “It’s not, though. I could’ve been nicer with my words, even if they were true. That’s not an excuse to be an ass.” She tentatively grabs Ellie’s hand, testing to see if she’ll pull away this time. When she doesn’t, she squeezes it, knowing that comforts her girlfriend.

“Oh,” Ellie responds, feeling dumb for not knowing what to say, “I guess you’re right, but I forgive you, okay?” She breathes out heavily, “Maybe...maybe one day I can tell you what really happened.”

“But on your own terms.”

Ellie agrees, “Yeah, on my own terms.” She looks down at their interlocked fingers, smiling like an idiot, “Thank you for apologizing. I hate when we fight.”

Dina brings her other hand up to Ellie’s face, gently brushing her cheek, “Of course. You deserved an apology, babe.” 

Closing her eyes, Ellie takes in the loving gesture. When she opens them, she kisses Dina on the lips, not able to stop herself from smiling into it. It’s brief, but it lets her know they’ll be okay.

Breathlessly, Dina pulls away, informing Ellie that the song playing right now was the one from when they had their first kiss. Ellie scrunches her face together as she tries to listen to it more closely. A guitar accompanied with an airy singer plays across the hall.

_ Time, wonderous time _

_ Gave me the blues and then purple pink skies _

_ And it's cool, baby with me _

_ And isn't it just so pretty to think _

_ All along there was some invisible string _

_ Tying you to me? _

“Huh, you’re right.”

Dina takes hold of her wrist, turning to the crowd of people in the center, then looking back at Ellie, “Care to dance with me?”

Ellie nods, “As long as we don’t do the sprinkler move Joel was trying to teach me earlier.” She shudders at the image of him attempting it.

“What’s that?”

“Trust me. You don’t wanna know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we’re nearing the end!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ellie is struggling with the weight of her journery and dina is there for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: this and chapter 11 were originally one big chapter, but then i added in some new scenes and changed the order of how they play out and it made more sense to separate them in the end.

**_“Do you think you can get a clear shot?”_ **

**_“Uh, maybe. It’s moving around a lot.” Ellie admits, keeping her sniper rifle steady as Dina observes her._ **

**_Dina stands up on her tippy toes, trying to get a good view over the bushes, “Yeah, rabbits are pretty skittish.”_ **

**_Ellie squints one eye and focuses the other on her scope, aiming for the heart as the snow white rabbit stands, sniffing the air for a moment. It twists its head to look directly at Ellie, red eyes meeting her green ones. Her breath hitches as it keeps her locked on, begging her to shoot and end it._ **

**_She doesn’t do it._ **

**_Huffing she sets the rifle down, “I can’t shoot it.” She turns to Dina, who looks furious._ **

**_“Why not? Are you seriously fucking scared of a rabbit?” There’s a bite to her tone as she grows angrier, it sets Ellie on edge._ **

**_She stammers, “W-what? No, I-- I’m not scared.” Her eyes widen as Dina grabs both of her shoulders, shaking her._ **

**_“You’re a fucking coward, Ellie. Now we won’t survive the winter because your dumbass can’t hunt.”_ **

**_Ellie feels tears beginning to stream down her face as Dina yells at her. She’s never seen her this mad, and to have it all directed at her? It hurts. She should’ve just killed that fucking rabbit._ **

**_“Why can’t you kill it, Ellie?” Dina repeats, “Why? Why? Why?” Her face begins to morph into something else, the Seraphite leader. She doesn’t stop yelling that single word._ **

**_Ellie gasps, escaping from the clutches of Dina ,or the woman, or whatever the fuck it is. She runs and runs, and they stay close behind her, just inches away._ **

**_“Why? Why? Why?”_ **

**_She trips over a tree that’s fallen over, yelping at the sudden pain. She grasps her ankle. It swells quickly. The woman stands over her, except this isn’t the woman anymore. It’s the rabbit. It’s so small and yet Ellie feels paralyzed as she stares at it. It doesn’t blink._ **

**_It opens its mouth and bites down on her leg, her own blood spills onto its white fur, staining it._ **

**_It continues eating away, paying no attention to her screams._ **

**_____**

In a cold sweat, Ellie wakes. She tries to calm her erratic breathing so as to not wake Dina up too. The nightmare is still fresh in her mind as she climbs out of bed. She clenches her hands into fists, forcing them to stop shaking.

Needing air, she puts on her shoes and steps out. Her mind can’t stop replaying her dream, Dina calling her a coward. The woman had been there, that fucking woman. Ellie wished she could erase her entire existence from her memory. She just wants to get  _ over  _ it.

**_____**

The surrounding forest around Jackson isn’t as scary as it was when she had first left to save Dina. Her pistol sits heavy in her pocket. She hopes she doesn’t have to use it. She just wants to be alone for a while.

There’s a creek she takes solace in, not having anything to wash off of her this time.

She sits by it, listening to the slow stream of the water and closes her eyes with a deep breath. Images of her nightmare flash around in her head, some for seconds and some for longer. She knows all that she went through will not leave her soon. It will stick, like some day old gum on the bottom of her shoe. 

Leaves shuffle next to her. Shooting her eyes open, she grips the gun and sees the source.

It’s a rabbit with brown fur that reminds her of Joel’s coffee. It stands up straighter and now she can see the two white spots, one on its stomach and another on its side.

It hops around for a bit before settling in beside her, staring.

She shifts to look at it directly, “Am I going fucking crazy?” She mutters, not breaking eye contact. It perks its ears up at the sound of her voice. Then, turns to look at the creek, watching it as she had been. Her hand stays on her gun, contemplating killing it.

She doesn’t know why the urge is there. Maybe it’s closure, maybe it’s just her fucked up mind. 

The rabbit hops forward towards the water. Ellie can’t help but feel worried for it. The water would probably drown out a little thing like that. It keeps going, though, with no regard to its own safety.

That does it.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She stands, picking it up with one hand. It doesn’t fight to escape her grasp. If anything, it looks  _ relieved.  _

Placing it back down, facing the opposite of the creek, she pats its behind to get it going. It turns once more to her, then heads off into the dark trees, leaving her alone on its own accord.

Ellie doesn’t realize she’s crying until the tears have made their way to her chin, with some spilling into her mouth. 

They taste of nothing at all.

**_____**

Back at her room, she doesn’t step inside just yet. Instead, she opts to sit out in front of her door, head still feeling so full of anxiety, of a woman with daggers, of rabbits who seem to know something she doesn’t.

Her door creaks open, she doesn’t check to see who it is. 

Dina sits down next to her, not looking at Ellie; she drops a jacket on her lap, “It’s cold.” She says as a way of explanation.

“Thanks.” Ellie rasps out, putting it on. It’s actually not even hers, it’s Joel’s. She’d stolen it from his closet a while ago.

The crickets chirps, providing background noise to the two as they soak in the silence for a few seconds. Ellie knows Dina’s waiting, waiting for her to tell her what’s going on or waiting for her to just go back inside and pretend nothing happened.

So, she breathes in, realizing that this was way more terrifying than jumping off a cliff or out of a plane. This wasn’t something that passed as quick as it had come.

“I had a nightmare.” Ellie says, beginning to form coherent sentences again.

Dina looks puzzled but says nothing.

“And, uh, you were in it.”

“Really?”

Ellie nods, still not looking on Dina, instead focusing on the stars. She wonders if she could see the Big Dipper from here. Her hand begins to shake again and before she can clench it, Dina grabs it, soothing her.

“Do you think I’m weak?” Ellie bluntly asks.

Dina squeezes her hand, “I think you’re the farthest thing from it.”

The thing is, Ellie  _ wants  _ to believe her, really. She wants to see herself in the way that Dina does, but she can’t. 

Her voice breaks, “I-I’m not whoever you think I am, Dina.”

Her thumb brushes Ellie’s knuckles as she asks, “And who would that be?”

“Someone who isn’t scared of anything.” The words leave her mouth and she knows it sounds stupid.  _ She  _ sounds stupid.

“Does this have something to do with the nightmare?” Dina asks, and when Ellie sneaks a look at her, she’s also gazing at the stars. But, Ellie says nothing else, hoping her silence is confirmation enough.

Dina sighs, “You’ve got it wrong, Ellie.” She turns and Ellie can see her in her peripheral, “Being strong doesn’t just mean physically, it’s mentally too and I think that, after all you’ve been through, you exceed many in that department.”

Her lips quiver, so Ellie purses them to stop herself from crying, “Sometimes I think that you’d be better off without me.”

Dina scoffs, and Ellie can almost hear the fire in her voice, “That’s a fucking lie.”

Finally, Ellie looks at her, and Dina’s looking back at her with understanding. Their hands stay together, like they would fall apart if separated. And maybe that’s true, maybe Ellie needs Dina more than she realizes and vice versa. Maybe it’s scary for both of them to have so much love for each other. But, right now, in the comfort of their bubble in Jackson, Ellie is okay with that.

“Do you think we can see the Big Dipper from here?” Ellie asks, barely above a whisper, a silent tear falling from her eye.

Dina chuckles softly, “We can try to.”

The turn back to the darkness sprinkled with white bulbs, searching but it’s to no avail. Ellie asks Dina to instead tell her the story of another constellation, one that was less popular. Dina obliges. She doesn’t know the whole truth yet, and Ellie’s not sure when she will. But, for now, she’ll bask in the stories Dina tells her with the same excitement as all those years ago. It was something that could never get old.

And when Joel comes to invite them to breakfast the next morning only to see them passed out on the doorstep, tangled in each other, he laughs and leaves them be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH THE END I GUESS??? 
> 
> i’ll give myself a lil pat on the back for finishing my first mult-chapter fic ever!! but also thanks to you all for reading, commenting, and giving kudos <3 it truly means the world to me 
> 
> BUT i’m also working on an atla fic?? so that’s a thing that i love now. might be ia for the time being as i work on stuff <3


End file.
